If you've just dropped by or random'ed into me, please leave a comment and say hello.

Let me know how you found me, where you're from, why you're here, a little about yourself, recommend a book, recommend a movie, tell me a secret, tell me something, ask me a question, etc. =)

Ad Astra,

The Bride of the First House.
bride (at) livejournal (dot) com

---

weather	:		sunny
outside	:		24°C
mood	:		content

Thus ends a nice holiday week. *bittersweet* =) W and I took the week off together. We didn't go anywhere, just caught up with errands and did random stuff that we wished we had more time to do during the week.

Girl: Finished Mansfield Park.

The fascinating thing about Jane Austen, I find, is that she's made the same plot tell six entirely different stories. They're all nearly the same, but you see very different themes and social commentary in each one.

It's like looking into several different bowls of water. They're all only slightly different bowls and, water is water. But you scry a different universal truth in every one.

---

Geek: I went scabbing as a hobo healer in Alterac Valley.

English: I played WoW.

At 64/m/shammy/cow, I can't do a whole lot. So, I don my Int gear and go heal the tank or any other DPS who has aggro. And I'm not overhealing as much anymore.

The Summer Solstice Festival is on in the WoW, so we're constantly ribbon dancing and doing the festival dailies. The torch catching is the bane of my existence. I have to get Husband Guy to do that one for me. =P The most infuriating thing is that I can see exactly what to do, but I still fail before I can do 10 in a row. I can even describe to someone how to do it and they succeeded with the first 4, but I get to about 6 or 7 and then wipe. Gaaaaaahhhhh...

We're quickly running out of alt character slots to make pack mules... =) Because I don't play nearly as many characters as W does, I have all the pack mule alts: one auction house alt and another food alt that's named after a large grocery store chain =D When the food alt ran out of bag space AND bank space AND bank BAG space, we had to form a guild to get the guild bank.

We have a whole tab of just seafood. XD

Geek: I also ran around as my own little party with my 25/f/lock/blood-elf, blueberry and netherwhelp out.

English: I played WoW some more.

It's fun to be my own party of three =) Although, it's annoying that your pet gets dismissed when you use public transportation.

I get questions about my Netherwhelp and where I got him (Limited Edition Burning Crusade) =D Sooooo looking forward to 40 when I get my felsteed and felpuppy.

Geek: On a different server, I started another character, 17/f/shammy/cow.

English: I played WoW... even more.

I'd been harrassed =) into starting a character on a different server where a co-worker is a 70 Priest. I swear, Husband Guy and I are only there to watch the guild drama scroll by in gchat XD LOL =)

It's been painful levelling with no Main to help with money, mats, bags or anything. When you're used to having your backpack with four 16-slot Netherweave bags right from level 1, having to scrimp and save and sell all the greys you get, then hemming and hawing at the Auction House for even that stupid 6-slotter, you realize how spoiled you were.

I've been all WHEN THE HELL DO I GET MY GHOST WOLF?!?!? for the last 10 levels now.

---

Girl: I got a professional French manicure.

I went to a spa so that someone could do it once while I watched. Square nails are not as good as oval nails for scratching itches.

As much of a hassle as it is to do my own French manicure, I bought a kit and re-did it myself because I'm just never really happy with the results _anywhere_. I tend to have a very fussy eye for detail and the reality is, I know my own nails better and I know how I want them done.

I also got nail jewels =) I don't put them on every nail, I just put the smallest pinky pattern on the two thumbs.

---

Geek: I learned to drive stick.

The Brother Boy taught The Husband and me to drive stick shift with his car.

I've always hated sitting in a standard. I could never stand the herky-jerky-ness and I've always attributed that to standard transmission cars. I found out in the last few years that it's actually the drivers, themselves, being buttheads.

So, the Brother Boy has grown up to be a huge car buff and instructed us both on how to start the car, drive, shift, and rev matching. Neither of us stalled although we made his car very unhappy a few times.

Driving standard is extraordinarily busy. There were so many other things to deal with. Clutch down. Make sure it's in Neutral. Put it in first gear. Let go of the clutch. BUT SLOWLY. And step on the gas pedal at the same time. Make sure the clutch isn't halfway up for too long. Don't hold the clutch down too long... aaaaiiiieeeeeeggghhh...

Several times, I forgot to signal and shoulder check. I know it's only because it was my first session. I'm sure it will get better with practice.

My left leg and my left butt cheek were super sore the next day. =D I'd like to be able to practice, but we can't afford an extra car. I think we'd have to get a fairly nice 2-3 year old standard for it to be a good practice car. Gas prices in the state that they are and insurance make it completely out of the question.

And I'm not sure if we'd be willing to switch to a standard entirely.

---

Girl: I tried on dresses.

There's another wedding in the family coming up. =) No, it will never end. =)

We're desparately trying to convince someone to forego the hullabaloo and go with a destination wedding. But no dice this time. *sigh*

"Dear Auntie 1, if you could please make sure Cousin #5 gets engaged to a someone from Italy, that would be cool beans. We'll all be there. Thanks!"

The dress I wanted wasn't actually in the store, I had to special order it. But I did try on the same size in a different style from the same designer. I told them I wanted it for this September, just so that I wouldn't have to wait.

The designer apparently won't start manufacturing the style that I want until this September. That means I may actually not get it until possibly October.

The store staff were all worried for me, but the ladies still cracked up when I said "well, if it's not here by September, I'll have to go to the wedding naked." I said I have a back-up plan and I still wanted this dress.

weather	:		mainly sunny
outside	:		12.2°C
mood	:		amused

I'm such a n00b that this year was my first Children's Week. I took pictures of us and the two boys we had with us... Grunth and Grunth =} It was great fun and a very endearing quest... I actually cried when I read the last quest text from Grunth as I was handing him back to the Matron.

The pics are all in this gallery =)

We picked up the kids from the orphanage in Orgrimmar from Orphan Matron Battlewail. I think I will refer to all children as "Non-Combat Pets" from now on. Let's see how many friends, family and cow-orkers I can offend with that one... XD

We hung around the orphanage for a while just to get acquainted with the boys. They wanted to show us something and took us over to the waterfall. It's A Secret™ so I can't tell you what it is. But it was REALLY COOL. =)

We brought the boys down to the docks at Ratchet to watch the boat come in. They were delighted to see the ship that goes from here to and from Booty Bay on the other continent. We would have brought them over there, but couldn't risk them getting hurt in a gank-fight.

There was another tourist there who couldn't get a clue and wound up in the foreground of our picture =P We had to be a good example for the boys, otherwise we would have pounded his ass so far into the ground.

We then took the boys to Crossroads on the way to Mor'shan Rampart. At Crossroads, we suitably annoyed the hell out of Apothecary Helbrim by using his tarp like a trampoline. The four of us were in a serious fit of giggles from climbing, running and jumping all over it.

From there, we walked with them to Mor'shan Rampart. They had to run to keep up with us and stumbled every once in a while. That was so cute =D They were very keen on learning about it being a strategic location defending against Alliance forces from Ashenvale to the North.

Then, it was off to see the Throne of Lordaeron. It took us a few tries to get a good picture. They're boys. They're not always going to look at the camera when you're taking the picture, they're not always going to be standing still for you. That's the way it goes =)

As a matter of Horde Pride, we had to tell them all about ousting the Alliance. And this throne was where the human king sat in his reign.

It was the most appropriate place to teach the boys how to do the Chicken Dance (cheep-cheep-cheep, flap-flap-flap, wiggle-wiggle-wiggle, clap-clap-clap). We taught them to make rude gestures and generally taunt their enemies. Because all warriors know that it's not how well you fight, it's the rudest gestures that win battles and wars.

They promised not to tell the Matron about this =)

The boys had never seen rocket racing, so we went out to the Mirage Raceway in Shimmering Flats. They were so cute with their wide eye, open mouthed gaping at the Goblins jetting down the path. One of them seemed to have an aptitude for engineering. I could tell by the way he looked at the race car parts strewn about.

But nothing made them happier than getting ice cream =D We took them to Brivelthwerp for strawberry ice cream.

Seeing Cairne Bloodhoof over in Thunderbluff was a little boring for them. I guess it was getting late and they were a bit tired after all that excitement, but they were still very respectful and being exceptionally good nonetheless. We didn't stay too long. Just long enough to get a picture, and a hoofprint, then headed back to the Orphanage at Orgrimmar. Here's a view on the Wind Rider just over Red Rocks with Husband Guy and Grunth in front. Grunth and I are behind them.

We got a few more pictures with Orphan Matron Battlewail before saying our final goodbyes. One of the other kids was running around and got in our way just as the picture was taken =D

We were given two pets as a Thank You - Speedy the turtle and Mr. Wiggles the piglet.

weather	:		mostly cloudy
outside	:		7.2°C
mood	:		...

You know how they say that married folks need to do "Date Nights" every once in a while?

So, we decided to try it. We had a really great time. I put the pics up in the gallery.

Go take a look =)

I like taking pictures now. =D I think I'll take more pictures wherever we go. =D

weather	:		partly cloudy
outside	:		10.2°C
mood	:		...

Husband Guy and I made zucchini bread today. It turned out awesome. The birds are also nibbling on little pieces we gave them =) The recipe makes two loaves, but we only had one bread pan, so we used that and poured the rest into muffin tins. So, now, we have a loaf of zucchini bread and a dozen zucchini muffins. =)

Two things I've learned from the few times we've tried to follow other peoples' recipes:

1. People are generally pretty retarded about what constitutes "one step" in a procedure.

One step means one action. One verb in the sentence. One. Not seven. One. Do ONE thing and that is ONE step. Don't call it an "Easy Three Step Process" if I'm doing six things in each "step". This is actually a very common and widespread problem. Technical writers, software QA folks who write bug reports, recipe writers... All across the board, I see people consistently unable to correctly count to ONE. Boggle.

2. Baking recipes use WAY too much sugar than necessary.

I always halve the sugar in all baking recipes I get. The sugar content is too overpowering if I use the amount that is written. I find that the flavours of the other ingredients are actually stronger and have more depth if there is less sugar.

weather	:		clear
outside	:		5.5°C
mood	:		content

My Mother-In-Law has been back in Taiwan for the last month or so. Husband Guy and I have been holding our own since. It's good for her to take a nice long vacation with her sisters once in a while.

Sid was in the Animal ER last week for prolonged and extreme heavy panting and occasional wheezing. He gets himself stuck on something and gets worked up sometimes, but the heavy breathing continued for way too long, so we decided not to risk it.

He hasn't been allowed to fly since getting the collar last March, so the poor little guy hasn't had ANY exercise for almost a year now. His heart has weakened to the point that he now has heart disease. The x-rays and blood-work confirmed it last week.

He's on a round of anti-biotics at the moment. We're also giving him — and Skippy — as much leafy greens and veggies that he'll eat. I buy organic when I can, but I'm not a snob about it. I'm certainly happy with good quality vegetables no matter how they're labelled.

It's not a big undertaking at all to do this for him. The Husband and I are having plain steamed vegetables almost every night too. I've always really liked the clean, natural flavour of unseasoned, unaltered vegetables. Some things, I like better raw (white mushrooms and red/orange peppers); some things, I like better steamed for a few minutes (broccoli, spinach, brussel sprouts). They don't need salt, butter or dressing. I feel like I only need to lightly season meat.

We're eating out less too. We want to spend as much time at home with Sid as possible. He is at a very high risk of having a stroke right now. If anything happens, he needs to be back in the ER as fast as we can manage it.

But he hasn't shown any signs of problems since last weekend. He has even been climbing around on top of his cage and flying small distances. He's infinitely happier now without the collar. You can just see it in his body language. =) We still want as much time with him as possible before he leaves us for good.

We've been crock pot fiends in the last month. Our giant 6 quart slow cooker has been utterly indispensible. I will never understand how anyone can say that it's hard to cook for one or two.

The crock pot and the rice cooker are like wonderful and loyal staff in my household. =) If I want fresh food when I come home from work, the crock pot goes on in the morning. The rice cooker is timed to begin cooking the pre-washed rice so that it starts in the early evening and finishes just as I walk in the door. I come home on the bus, so I have the timing down pat =)

I bought sandwich-sized no-name brand plastic microwave/freezer containers at a dollar store for a buck each. We make a full 6 quarts of food. We eat what we want, then separate the rest into the containers and freeze them. We can make two large batches of stuff on Saturday and Sunday. Thaw and reheat, alternating dishes, throughout the week. Combined with rice and steamed vegetables, it makes for phenomenal meals.

We kept a close tab on the price of our meals done this way versus eating out. I expected it to be a lot cheaper, but I was very surprised that it was only $1.00 less per serving to make our own meals in bulk. Depending on what we make, it can end up being just a tad more to make it ourselves.

Maybe we just know how to pick'em, but we find eateries or somewhere that has large portions for under $10.00 and just get one entrée to share between the two of us.

I know we can eat really really well for about $3.00 per person, per meal, with a lot of choice and variety.

weather	:		clear
outside	:		2.5°C
mood	:		content

With this ring
I accept all that you are
And all that you will be

With open heart and open mind
I honor my love, loyalty and faith
In you as my husband

With my hand in yours
I walk this path
We create together
In brightest of days and darkest of nights

With all that I am
And all that I have
I pledge myself to you
In perfect love

weather	:		rainshower
outside	:		14.2°C
mood	:		...

Because the basis of any happy marriage is who wins, who loses and keeping score. XD =D

Merriam-Webster defines debacle as:

Function: noun
Etymology: French débâcle, from débâcler to clear, from Middle French desbacler, from des- de- + bacler to block, perhaps from Vulgar Latin *bacculare, from Latin baculum staff
1 : a tumultuous breakup of ice in a river
2 : a violent disruption (as of an army) : ROUT
3 a : a great disaster b : a complete failure : FIASCO

Poll #1064426 Debacle
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 25

How do you pronounce "debacle"?

Other?

Ticky-

weather	:		cloudy w/ showers
outside	:		12.9°C
mood	:		...

No, we have nothing better to fight about. XD

The Husband and I were on the way to work this morning. We drive by a car that is parked illegally. Slightly ticked because the car is also blocking our view of oncoming traffic, the Husband Guy says, "I should bring a bucket of yellow paint."

Poll #1059251 "I should bring a bucket of yellow paint."
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 31

What do you think he meant?

Vote first, then highlight the text below to read on:

Because _I_ replied, "Ooo, ooo, I'll help you dump the paint all over the car!!"

Clearly, any reasonable person would have thought he meant the same thing. =)

weather	:		clear
outside	:		19.1°C
mood	:		tired

I took Friday off and Monday was the Canada Day stat. So, naturally, the co-workers were all What did YOU do this weekend? on me on Tuesday.

The Husband Guy painted my toenails. And it took all weekend to fix it. XD

No, I'm kidding. =)

I'm quite proud of him. He did a pretty good job for a guy who's never touched a bottle of nailpolish before.

It's only a little gobby and uneven... in a few places... per toe.

I haven't talked about movies we've watched in a long time. That would be because we haven't actually watched any in a long time. Well, no, I think we have, but they've been so unmemorable that I haven't bothered.

We saw Pan's Labyrinth () and I thought it was an amazing movie. It was hilarious that when the fairies flew around and squeeped, our birds kept trying to "talk" to them by making almost the same squeeping sounds =)

In one nighttime scene, Ofelia and her mother were asleep. I made a comment about being confused at the temperature. I noticed Ofelia was wearing a sweater, but her mother was in a thin cotton sleeveless nightgown. The Husband says, "well, she _is_ pregnant..."

Wow. Progesterone levels are high during pregnancy and it does cause the body temperature to be elevated a little. I was downright impressed.

We also saw The Queen (). I'm one of the minority who didn't like this one at all.

Helen Mirren and James Cromwell totally win, hands down, at the Queen Elizabeth II & Prince Philip Look-alike Contest, but that was about all the entertainment value I got out of it. I'm positive that the entire cast are great actors because I've seen them in other movies doing a fantastic job — I loved Michael Sheen as an insane Nero and James Cromwell, from Farmer Hogget to Zefram Cochrane. I thought they all would have had better things to do than this little Royal/Tony Blair Publicity Thingie™. And it really was a waste of time. Both the Establishment and the people are so full of themselves.

weather	:		clear
outside	:		15.4°C
mood	:		*sigh*

Settle an argument for us.

Suppose you had a chain door fastener. From the side, the fastener looked like this:

Poll #993778 Chain Door Fastener Configuration
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 35

How would you fasten this door?

weather	:		light rain
outside	:		4.6°C
mood	:		cheerful

I've never been too comfortable travelling with my wedding rings. I know that it's an easily noticeable thing. People approach me about it from time to time. It sometimes makes me uncomfortable to think of how many people would be noticing it and not saying anything, especially in a foreign country.

Husband Guy and I have also wanted a pair of matching rings. Our wedding rings don't match. Not that they have to, but it's just kinda nice if they do.

For a few years now, I've been looking around for a pair of matching rings, for travel purposes. This way, I don't have to haul around a photocopy of the papers for the diamond so that Canada Customs doesn't hassle me for importing (I'm surprised that I didn't get questions about it coming back from South Africa). And, this way, I also wouldn't have to spend my vacations fretting about losing my ring =P A more plain wedding band would mean my clothes don't get shredded by the prongs and I won't have to worry as much about hurting 甜蜜蜜, my Ex-Co-Worker's baby girl, when I go over to play D&D with The Ex-Co-Worker Buddies and inevitably play with the baby. =)

But all the rings I saw were either expensive, too girly, too ugly, too blah or some combination of negativeness that I didn't want. I wanted something simple and elegant, so that the husband could wear it without looking too frilly. But I wanted it to be interesting and cool at the same time. All the simpler designs I saw that were appropriate for men were just blah and nothing on women.

Today, we were wandering through the gift shop of the Steveston Guan Yin Temple and we got a pair of matching rings. They're inscribed with the Om Mani Padme Hom mantra. The outer layer has the words on it and it spins like a mani wheel. =)

It looks like this, except ours are entirely 18K white gold, not a combination yellow/white gold like the one in the picture. From far away, they look like plain wedding bands. It's not until you get closer that you see and understand them... just like the two of us. And up close, if you're not looking carefully, it kinda looks like The One Ring... which makes it all that much cooler =)

Our Om Mani Padme Hom rings are now consecrated and bound to us. They weren't expensive, they're tasteful, simple, elegant, yet very interesting and deeply meaningful to us.

Now we're trying to decide when to wear them. We were originally only wanting them as a travel set, but now we want to wear them regularly as well. But the rings we were originally married with are also special =]

weather	:		cloudy
outside	:		4.8°C
mood	:		hehehe... ooops...

My Husband and my Brother-In-Law sound very very similar on the phone. Other people who call our house get them mixed up all the time.

Even _I_ mistake one for another.

What usually happens is I call the Husband on his cell. He doesn't answer. I try his office. No answer. I call home and a male voice answers. Thinking that it's the husband, I'll start chatting. A good while into the conversation, he'll say something that makes me suddenly realize it's the Brother-In-Law... like "Did you want to talk to Will?"

And I'm in a mad panic trying to think if I've said something COMPLETELY RETARDED >_<

I should maybe warn the Brother-In-Law's girlfriend about this. MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE RIGHT GUY BEFORE YOU START BLATHERING.

weather	:		cloudy
outside	:		8.3°C
mood	:		...

We had a big storm that kicked up the water in the Capilano reservoir that services North Vancouver, Vancouver and Burnaby. We've been under a boil-water advisory. Tap water is not safe to drink for at least a few days, maybe up to a week or two. We have to boil it if we want to drink it. It's not just because of the turbidity levels, although that makes it icky too. But the bacteria and parasites might not be killed by the chlorine treatment in these conditions.

It's supposedly not going to be over for a while because we expect more storms and massive gusty winds around.

People have been snapping up bottled water like we were in the middle of a disaster or something. I haven't seen the need to do that. It's a low risk, precautionary advisory. We're SO not fighting over bottled water with the rest of the crazy, punchy, fighty people. Yeah, it's gotten to violence in some places. *roll eyes* I'd rather save my claws energy for a real disaster.

We just boiled up a big kettle of twice filtered water from the Brita and a smaller pot for the Brother-In-Law Dude. That's mostly for brushing our teeth. We use the boiled water for either cooking or making hot drinks - tea, coffee, hot chocolate and the like.

For cold drinks... well, it was nice and civilized at the Liquor Store =D My attitude has been, if I can't get water, we'll just drink Vodka instead. XD The Husband picked up some more Smirnoff Ice Grape to add to the collection of Mandarin and Watermelon that I got just before the storm. I got a 4-pack of Bacardi Breezers (Blood, Orange, Mango and Peach =)

Yeah, we've discovered that Husband Guy likes the flavoured Vodka drinks. He's never liked alcoholic beverages. I think he's tried Smirnoff Ice before but for some reason, he only remembers the yeasty taste of beer and just remembers that he hates it. Vodka is probably much cleaner tasting.

We'll get him to try a Gin & Tonic or something by the time the year's out.

weather	:		sunny
outside	:		17.8°C
mood	:		...

I'm trying to get Husband Guy to write in his journal more... *sigh* I HAVE been, for years.

Encouragement-bombing goes here: toturi. Every bit helps =)

I think he feels like he needs to write a technical blog and be super interesting, drawing a huge readership, like Raymond Chen. But a large part of the difficulty is that he can't say much about Work. He's very hesitant about writing technical stuff.

I can totally understand that. I stay very skirty and vague about Work too, but even without talking about Work, there's fantastic journalling fodder in a lot of things he says to me. He has great stories to tell, really funny and interesting things that he says. And he's a really good writer.

I keep saying, "you SO should blog that!" and "see, that's the kind of thing you should be writing in your LJ." But he always says that I'm the only one who finds it funny/interesting/whatever.

I've even threatened to post his non-Work stories and funnies here in my journal, without his permission, for all the free world to see. I was trying to get him to write them up on his own so that I wouldn't mangle them beyond recognition.

But he's not biting. Maybe I should just make good on my threats.

>=)

weather	:		cloudy
outside	:		18.6°C
mood	:		...

On the way home from Tulalip, WA, the other weekend, we were having an almighty row in the car over how to drive on the highway.

He says that the left lane is for passing only and would passionately ream out the other drivers who stayed in the left lane (who weren't listening anyway).

I said, it doesn't matter. These cars were going 10+ mph over the speed limit and they could be considered "passing"... just passing very slowly. Afterall, there was another vehicle in the right lane a little ways ahead. The Husband just wanted to go faster. And I don't believe for a second that the No Hogging The Left Lane™ rule doesn't apply to him because he's "always passing"...

So, we're getting louder and crazier with it as we're going North up the I-5. My Mother-In-Law is all exasperated that the Husband Guy and I will argue over the tiniest, most insignificant issues.

We told her that it's because we don't have anything big to fight over, so we make up for that in volume. We take the smaller issues and holler at each other as loud as we possibly can instead.

If he weren't driving, it would have gone to fisticuffs XD

weather	:		cloudy
outside	:		12.7°C
mood	:		...

My Technical-Director-of-a-Software-Games-Dev-House Husband will be at E³ next week. He showed me his shiny new business cards the other day. It looked really cool... except that his title was spelled wrong and there was a huge colour screw up.

"Um, that's a very interesting juxtaposition of colours" =P

They've been in business for over 10 years and no one at the company has business cards. They've been extremely successful through word-of-mouth alone, so they've never needed them.

But, yeah, very proud wife over here =)

weather	:		partly cloudy
outside	:		5.9°C
mood	:		...

The Husband says to me, "Isn't Valentine's on February 13th?"

BWAHAHAHA!!! XD

After a long 13 year tradition of Completely Forgetting™, The ONE Year he remembered Valentine's Day, he remembered it wrong. =D But I think he made an effort because he realizes how lucky he is that he DOESN'T GET KILLED for not remembering.

Then he says we should go out for dinner and a movie. But there wasn't anything playing that we both really wanted to see, so we opted to rent something and have dinner at home.

And what movie did he pick for this romantic occasion?

DOOM (/)

Starring The Rock. And Eomer, as Skippy. I wonder why there was no mention of Dr. Carmack's partner, Dr. Romero... =D

The Husband finally did let me pick Sweet Home Alabama, but only after I threw a big loud tantrum in the video store. Kidding. XD

weather	:		cloudy
outside	:		6.2°C
mood	:		idiotic

In a momentary lapse of judgement, I let the Husband fast talk me into getting a pair of low rise jeans. USD$20; Tommy Hilfiger. It's spelled correctly too, which isn't as entertaining, but what the hey...

Let me get this straight. I paid a whole twenty dollars — USD — for the express privilege of continuously feeling like my pants are falling down. All day.

How do people put up with these things?

How long does it take for you to stop feeling the urge to yoik up your pants every three seconds in public, thereby giving yourself a humongous wedgie in public?

Of course, they are a bit loose and I could maybe use a belt. But they're a Size 2. I'd already been hopping in and out of the fitting room, trying on a 6, then a 4, then a 2. I didn't have it in me to try the Size 0...

Oh, and yes, I fell for the "could you please pick up that thing from the floor for me?" ploy once. *smirk*

weather	:		sunny
outside	:		3.3°C
mood	:		cheerful

The Husband's Company Christmas Party was last night at The Irish Heather in Gastown. There's a tiny building in behind the pub itself that takes bookings for parties of up to 50. A lot of the film crews have their wrap-up parties in there.

It shares the courtyard with The Mews at 12 Water Street. One of my Ex-Works also shared that same courtyard so it was very fond memories going back there. The building we were in last night was built entirely out of brick that was scavenged from a sunken Irish transport ship off the West Coast somewhere. This ship apparently had an entirely brick ballast. =D

It was one of the only buildings left standing after Vancouver's Great Fire of 1886.

It used to be the coach house for the Mayor and Constable General of Vancouver. It was also Vancouver's first jail. Apparently, the washrooms that were over in the Irish Heather main building was their one jail cell XD

And the courtyard in between is where all the hangings took place. It's supposed to be haunted. Just for that element of fun. But keep the tap going and you'll be nice and protected. XD

I had a glass of Smithwick's (authentic Irish ale).

Holy. Shit. Best. Beer. EVAR.

I haven't been to Europe yet, so I'm talking about this side of the water, of course =) But WOW. Jeez.

The food was pretty amazing too. FANTASTIC artichoke heart fritters (=O =D), pickled asparagus wrapped in a cold-cut ham, shrimp with deathly excellent sauce (I didn't hear what it actually was), there was another chicken skewer thing that was really really wonderful.

They have several choices of entrées for dinner — Beef/Guinness Pot Pie, a Corned Beef & Mash and a chicken dish that neither the Husband nor I got. Dessert wasn't too bad either, but I was just trying to keep up the breathing, sipping the Port Ellen.

*sip*

*COUGH*

Ow.

Repeat.

Good times =)

weather	:		rain
outside	:		8.6°C
mood	:		satisfied

Thanks for all the Hippo Birdies! =)

Work got me a humongous sheet of mocha cake on Friday. Thank you, Work! =) Everyone gets cake for their birthday. The most hilarious thing at Work is that the Birthday Person has to cut and serve the cake =D I think that "tradition" started because the Birthday Person usually makes the first cut, then hands it over to someone else who finishes the job. But someone went full-steam ahead with it and the rest of us were not going to argue with a person wielding a big knife.

Anyway, someone mentions candles and I gave the standard, "that would be a fire hazard because I'd have too many candles". And I'm within earshot of a jab about "these twenty-somethings always make it a big deal". =)

They think I'm twenty-something. HAHA! I haven't been a twenty-something in a looooong time XD

I didn't do too badly at cutting cake even though I hadn't done it too many times before Friday. I'm not really a cake person, but I discovered I'm a real cake cutting snob. =D Because I'm sure you people want to hear about my neuroses:

On the rectangular sheet cake, I cut down the middle, then split each half into quarters, then each quarter into twelfths. And I did the same in the other dimension. I have an unfounded neurotic need for every single piece to be perfectly the same size.

On a round cake, I'm even worse. =) I abhor long skinny wedges. Assuming a 9" round, I'll cut a circle in the middle of the cake (half radius or a little less than half radius works best). Then cut the outer ring into 8 pieces and the inner circle into quarters for 12 nice evenly proportioned chunks.

But. Birthday. Me. Yes.

It was a four-day social gauntlet. >K}

The Mother-in-Law Woman brought us and the Brother-in-Law out Thursday night because the Brother-in-Law was going to be out of town this weekend. I got cake from Work on Friday. My parents took me out for lunch Saturday. And Husband Guy and I went out tonight.

He and I were joking earlier this week that because we went to the most expensive restaurant on the planet last year, we have to watch our budget and balance it out. This year, I get a small cup of fries. Bought with a coupon. For dessert, he's taking me to Baskin-Robbins at the mall for a free taster spoon. I get to pick the flavour (how magnanimous is that?). XD

Just kidding. I got an e-mail invite from OpenTable.com saying that I would be "picked up at 7:15pm" by toturi. ... Haha, yeah, he's going to toddle upstairs and yell at me to get going =D

We went to West. It used to be spelled "Ouest", pronounced "West". But people kept either thinking it was "Quest" or because of the name, they expected French cuisine, which, if you look at their menu, is only slightly French inspired. They Anglicized the spelling three years ago because the French caused way too much stress. I understand the decision, but I thought "Ouest" was more interesting... "West" is all normal and boring. =P

The Husband started with a nice cheesy pumpkin soup and I, a fantastic artichoke heart stuffed with foie gras. He got the baked Queen Charlotte halibut. It had really great butternut squash in it! I saw rabbit on the menu and I had to try it. It was very very good — sort of like a chicken-flavoured ham — with a pine nut risotto on the side. And we shared the fully loaded, severely stacked pumpkin tart.

weather	:		sunny
outside	:		25.8°C
mood	:		amused

We just finished painting the patio/deck in the back with a semi-transparent wood stain, the lightest one... something about cedars... I thought our deck was pine. And I always thought you were supposed to stain wood while it was relatively new. But *shrug* whuddoo'I know?

What I learned on my first painting job since about first grade:

• There will be retarded bees who will get the smell of wood stain confused with nectar. Brain smaller than a booger nugget and all that... Just keep working and try not to look like a flower.

• Always mix before you start.

• ALWAYS MIX before you start.

• Always mix BEFORE YOU START.

• ALWAYS MIX BEFORE YOU START.

• Did I mention to mix before you start?

Me: "Don't we need to mix the stuff first?"
Husband: "No."

=\

We'd finished a whole corner and needed more stain in the pan. I turn around to see the dude quietly mixing the bucket with a stick. *mental forehead clutch* *thought bubble: "I've already said 'I do'... I've already said 'I do'... I've already said 'I do'..."* Because all the thick pigment gunk was settled to the bottom, we had to go over that first corner again. [Update: Now that the stain has dried a bit, we can see that that corner is darker than the rest of the deck >K{ *sigh* I guess we know where the barbecue is going now.]

• I'm staining a big ass deck. As quickly as I can. Before I burn to a crisp. In the baking hot afternoon sun. I'm not submitting this to an art exhibit in Paris. "With the grain" is about the only technique I'm employing. Maybe "outwards towards the edges" as well when I'm at the edges, if I feel like it. But anywhere else, tell it to the tree.

• The little ouch on your finger will turn into a big Australia-shaped blister and will feel like it's about the same surface area. Shift your hand position NOW.

• Don't paint your foot. Like, don't.

• If you re-enact, in the air, the motion of dragging your knuckles across the wood, it'll be easier to visualize the direction the splinters should come out.

• If you run out of stain just before you finish the last bit of the bottom step, that's where the flower planters will go.

Why are we missing the last bit of the bottom step, you ask? See the "Always Mix" rule above. XD

Despite that, it was actually a lot of fun doing the deck this afternoon =D

weather	:		cloudy
outside	:		18.3°C
mood	:		calm

It's funny that I'm the one who usually gets the Husband Guy his anti-perspirant. As much as I hate shopping, he hates shopping even more. So, for the past who knows how long, I've been getting him Gillette Clear Gel (Arctic Ice and Cool Wave, once). I think I got him Right Guard once or twice... and centuries ago, I got him Men's Speed Stick, just the generic "Scented" one with the blue cap.

I'm usually good about having one unopened backup ready for him when he runs out, but I guess I've been slacking. Minus 100 Wife Points for me. And there must be a 20X multiplier on that for having a gaffe like this land on our anniversary. Anyway, this morning, he completely ran out. He was a bit self-conscious about being smelly, so he looks over at mine. I told him to go ahead if he wanted to use mine. But it was so funny watching him. He gingerly picks it up, opens it and sniffs it like we really should be calling a Hazmat team or something.

"ACK!! It smells so girlie!" he exclaims.

It was either smell like an ape or smell like a girl. I've never seen him so conflicted. I laughed at him and tried to goad him into using it.

"Are you secure enough in your masculinity to wear a woman's deodorant?" XD

He wasn't. It's Soft & Dri, Kissed Peach. It's peach! I can understand men not wanting to smell like a flower, but peaches are fruit and, thus, gender neutral, aren't they? Oh well.

I promised to get some pit juice on my way home in the evening. I decided to get him AXE For Men — one Touch, which I like better, and one Phoenix. I'm a bit baffled as to how a MEN'S product gets a name like "Phoenix" and still sells, though... I guess in the West, the phoenix is not associated with the feminine element. Right, anyway, I liked those two the best out of the three they had on the shelf (Tsunami was the other one, but I thought it was kinda icky). He claims that I hate the AXE commercials because they're dumb. I remember the commercials he described, but I honestly didn't associate them with this brand. That's why I got them... *shrug*

But just so I know, I'd like to put the question to all of you:

What brand deodorant/anti-perspirant and what scent do you use?

Ladies too, I wouldn't mind getting some recommendations to try. I'll keep this list and pick out something new for him once in a while =)

weather	:		cloudy
outside	:		16°C
mood	:		hmm...

kaseido does Thankful Thursdays every week... well, most weeks (no pressure! =D). I think it's a great idea and one that I'd like to take part in at random throughout the year. We piss and moan that commercialization has rendered our holidays and special observances meaningless and yet, we still feed the industry, right on cue, every year. What's wrong with THAT picture?

Anyway, enough about everyone else. Let's talk about me.

I'm the kind of person who sees the glass as half empty. But I'm also the kind of person who's glad there's anything in the glass at all.

I'm thankful for a lot of things, but here's today's:

Last night, we went to bed way early... like 2100h. He has the flu and I was just that tired. It's dumb that this is the only way we can have some time together, but I'll take whatever I can get.

We were just laying in bed dozing and chatting. It was the most time we've had together at a stretch in months. Every time the conversation got serious and intense, one of us would say or do something completely unexpected and silly/stupid and make us both laugh. It's good and bad at the same time. Sometimes it seems some things never get concluded or resolved. But it's good because laughing is always good.

I'm very thankful for the relationship I have (and have had) with my Husband.

So many people have trouble finding love. And these are people who are far more accomplished, smarter, quicker on their feet, far better looking and... just plain all around far better than I. And they still can't find a decent match.

Research papers, news articles, expert analyses on successful relationships can say all they like about what makes love last. I read as many as I can because I don't know what the hell I'm doing either; I want to know what I'm doing right so that I can continue to do it; I want to know what I might be doing wrong so that I can correct it... in time. But I still find that the premises and conclusions only partially apply to us.

I'm not a good wife. Not by a long shot. I'm not easy to get along with at close range. I have a very difficult personality and I know that. With all my neuroses, faults and shortcomings, I'm very fortunate to even be a wife at all.

weather	:		cloudy
outside	:		11.5°C
mood	:		resigned

Other wives, when their husbands are out of underwear, will maybe start a load of laundry or something nice and wifey like that.

What do _I_ do?

I hand him a tea towel and a large safety pin.

And laugh at him. Uproariously.

Then laugh even harder at the look on his face when I tell him that his other choice is to wear an old pair inside out.

I make a terrible wife.

<evangelize>This entry was generated by Autoblogger</evangelize>

weather	:		cloudy
outside	:		11.0°C
mood	:		ROFLcopters

Husband Guy let me play once when the Brother-in-Law wasn't home (they each have their own accounts). We made two new cow things. I had fun, but he HATES playing with me. It really stresses him out something fierce, so he never wants to play with me anymore. =D

In the first quest, we were supposed to kill 10 ostrich-like things each and get 10 feathers (or something like that). I'm complaining all the way through it: "Why do we have to waste time killing 10 each? I mean, these smelly birds have way more than 20 feathers on them. Hell, we could kill one, take our 10, dump the body in the middle of town and everybody can have 10 stupid feathers each."

He was all mad at me that during one fight, I'm standing around staring at the sky or running around at random. The controls are different from other games I'm used to, so I spent most of my time trying to just move and do things properly... and not look like psychotic bumblebee on crack.

I go missing all of a sudden because I've seen some cool looking creature or a tree and ran off to get a better look at it.

Some of our game conversations:

Him: "Shoot at that thing over there."
Me: "Okay." *bang*
Him: "WHATAREYOUDOINGNOTNOW!!!! Nice shot, by the way... But WAIT for me to set up!!"

Him: "C'mere! Where are you GOING?"
Me: "I'm going over there..."
Him: "WHY are you going over there, we're killing THIS one."
Me: "I don't WANNA kill that one. YOU'RE killing that one, so I'll kill this one..."
Him: "I CAN'T kill them by myself, I need you to shoot at them while I cast!! Gaaaahh... I'm HURT now."

Him: "Look, it's a dead body..."
Me: "How do you know it's a dead body?"
Him: "Because it's laying on the ground. Not moving."
Me: "How do you know he's not just sleeping?"
Him: "In the middle of a forest? ... No, see, this is what sleeping looks like." *lays down and sleeps in the middle of the forest for no reason, probably to the bewilderment of the passersby*
Me: "He could still be a sleeping person."
Him: "... He's sprawled out on his back with his arms and legs everywhere. He's dead."
Me: "Well, you sleep sprawled on your back with your arms and legs everywhere."
Him: "I DO NOT!"

Him: "When you mouse over him, it says 'Corpse' in the corner."
Me: "'Corpse' just means 'body' whether it's dead or alive. At least, it is in French. 'Corps' is body, so 'corpse' must be the feminine form."
Him: "THIS IS NOT FRENCH, UH-KAY?! And, besides, he has stars floating around to indicate that he is 'lootable'."
Me: "Maybe he's dizzy."
Him: "... ?"
Me: "He might be dizzy and needed to lay down for a while. How would you like it if you were dizzy and you lay down but some rude person decided to loot you?"
Him: "... ... ... SHUDDUP, THAT'S NOT HOW IT WORKS!!"

[Update - Thursday, May 19, 2005]

So, Dude hated playing with me so much that he bought me my own copy, scrounged up more RAM for me and gave me his better video card. XD

I'm an Undead Priestess, Fugly Girl™. I have a brown dress, glowy eyes, greasy hair and everything.

Me: "Ooo, a 'Mushroom Hat'... can I wear that?"
Him: "Uh. No. It's a 'Forest Mushroom Cap'. It's food. You eat it."

I think I'm the only person who can aim to walk through a doorway and completely miss the house.

I keep getting stuck in corners.

I tried to walk up to a guy to get my quest. He was wide open, but somehow, I still couldn't, for the life of me, maneouver myself to stand in front of him, face him and talk, all at the same time ("whuddya mean I can't talk to him with my back towards him?"). I finally managed to get to talk to him... I wound up standing on a table, looking like a complete moron. But at that point, I didn't care because I was finally in sort of the right orientation that right-clicking on him worked. *sigh*

I hid behind a bush to cast Smite at the bat. He shouldn't be able to see me. I mean, I couldn't see him.

*och* They can resist my Smite? That's just not fair.

Him: "Okay, look, all those people want to talk to you."
Me: "How do you know?"
Him: "Because they have yellow things over their heads. The ones with yellow question marks have a quest for you."
Me: "Why? What if I don't want to talk to him?"
Him: "You HAVE to."
Me: "But what if I don't WANT a quest? I just want to go outside and smite things."
Him: *gnash teeth* "You have to get the quest. That's the WHOLE POINT OF THE GAME..."

Me: *waiting for the quest to finish printing out*
Quest: *scribble* *scribble* *scribble*
Me: *quadruple-click on the disabled "Accept" button multiple times*
Me: "Ai-ya, tell me FASTER..."
Him: "Y'know, clicking it faster isn't going to make it print out faster."
Me: "YES, IT WILL."

Him: "Okay, you got the quest, right?"
Me: "Yeah."
Him: "Did you read the scroll?"
Me: "No."
Him: *headdesk*

Fugly: "I have no TARGET."
Me: "UUUNGH... THAT OOOOOONE!!!"

Fugly: "I am OUT of RANGE."
Me: "What the hell is with this 'Out of Range' crap? I was plenty close enough. If I can bloody see them, I should be within range, dammit.
Fugly: "I am OUT of RANGE."
Me: "SHUUUT UP, you fucking WHINER."

And I press 2-W-2-W until it works. Husband Guy hates it when I do that XD

Me: 2-W-2-W
Fugly: "I am OUT of RANGE. I am OUT of RANGE."
Him: "Just keep walking... you'll see the number on your Quick Bar turn from red to white when you're in range."
Me: 2-W-2-W-2
Fugly: "I am OUT of RANGE. I am OUT of RANGE."
Him: "You don't have to do that, you know. It will turn white when you can cast."
Me: W-2-W-2-W
Fugly: "I am OUT of RANGE. I am OUT of RANGE. I am OUT of RANGE."
Him: "QUIT TAPPING AND JUST WALK CLOSER!!!"

He sets himself on Follow and comes over to my machine to watch over my shoulder, tutor me and what-not. I'm down two pixels and I scream at him: "AAA!! GO HEAL ME!! GO HEAL ME!"

He tells me that when my Smite bar turns green, I can hit the button to re-cast again. I tried to time it perfectly so that I start hitting the button before it turns green so that by the time it is green, I've already pressed the button, thereby, wasting as little time as possible. After a while, I give up trying to time it and just press the cast button in rapid succession.

It's like the Elevator Button Theory. The faster you repeatedly press the button, the faster the elevator comes to your floor.

I think it's dumb that I'm out of mana and I can't drink water while I'm in battle. That's retarded. I can SO slash a dog with my right hand and drink with my left.

weather	:		cloudy
outside	:		6.9°C
mood	:		*teehee*

Action	Points	Running Total
I went shopping today after work, found a knee-length black satin slip-skirt and bought it.	Do I lose points for spending money? Or do I gain points for doing something Wife Creatures are "supposed" to do that I don't normally do?	0
It was $35 + tax	-50 for paying so much for it and not on sale.	(50)
I'd been looking high and low for one for two years to wear with the black business/interview/funeral suit with a small black skirt that's amazingly see-through, so I couldn't wear it in the time that I've had it.	+200	150
It's a Small and it's still too long, so it will need to be altered along with the sleeves of the jacket.	-50	100
I went by Timmy Ho's and bought a box of 40 Timbits for The Poor Guy With A Bummed Ankle.	+5000	5100
But I ate some in the car while I was waiting for him.	-6000	(900)
I waited for 45 minutes.	+400	(500)
It was 1815h, I was tired and hungry.	+400	(100)
I ate in the car.	-900000. Huge no-no. NO EATING IN A NEW CAR. And our car is still considered A New Car™ as evidenced by it still smelling like a new car.	(1000000)
But I was really hungry.	Restore 500000	(500000)
I brushed the crumbs off the leather seat.	+500	(499500)
... and onto the carpet.	-300	(499800)

And I end up at -499800 Wife Points. I suck.

weather	:		light rain
outside	:		7.7°C
mood	:		hmph

So, this would be sprain #3 for the left ankle, the right ankle having been done twice already and every January, he alternates knee problems.

Husband Guy's injury stats are more interesting than his player stats. *sigh*

He and Basketball-Buddy-P have been talking about retiring from basketball and taking up golf for the last few years. I don't see no golf appurtenances happening in the house yet.

P's wife, C, and I were going to go over to their place on exercise-day-Sundays and do the pilates DVD, on the theory that it will help my back. We were saying how the guys should just come and do pilates with us instead of rolling their ankles on the court.

Says they:

"Is there, like, a high-impact pilates?"

"Yeah. You do it twice."

"Har."

weather	:		cloudy
outside	:		9.5°C
mood	:		aawww...

I happened to look over at Husband Guy just a few minutes ago. What I saw was an EXACT living replica of a memory I have of him, around the time that we first met.

It's a very simple memory, nothing special. He wasn't doing anything or saying anything. It wasn't any occasion in particular, now or then. There was nothing to it. It must have been just something in the lighting, angle, colours, the way he had his hair, the way he was sitting or something else... I don't know what...

But it took me back all of a sudden and it was really spooky cool, very déjà-vu-like. =)

weather	:		mostly clear
outside	:		3°C
mood	:		giggly

Only the Husband and I can have a bicker-fight about this...

How do you and your significant other hold hands?

Interlocking Fingers™, right? Like most normal people, I suspect you do. ... Wow. See comments. XD

Does anyone do The Kindergarten Washroom Partner™ style?

He absently picked up my hand that way once, years ago. I hate it. It feels all weird and wrong. It brings back memories of school, Boy Germs™ and... well, being required to go to the washroom in pairs and walk down the hall holding hands. *BLECH* I feel like squirming out of it.

Now that he knows I hate it, he does it on purpose to annoy me. Then he picks it up a little and jiggles it. And it's totally unfair that I can only smack him at a red light because he's driving >K}

[Update]

Thanks a lot, you Kindergarten people. Now you've made Husband Guy all gloaty about this. You're supposed to be my friends. =D =D

weather	:		rain
outside	:		9°C
mood	:		satisfied

It's taken this long to get to a state of non-temporary-ness with the bed. =P For once in my life, I'm starting anew with a new bed and everything, so it would be nice to have patterns that are all unified and everything matching.

I just want:

• a bed skirt
• two standard sized pillow cases
• a fitted sheet
• a comforter coverlet

I'm really not asking for a lot. This doesn't look too bad. Except, that is Too Hard™.

You wouldn't believe what a huge ordeal that was to find a plain bed skirt. To find a freaking store that even had a decent selection of them was insane. Then, the store we found them at had shelves and shelves of them that covered an entire wall. But it was hell to find one in the right size, in the right LENGTH, NO RUFFLES, NO CRAZY FOLDIE THINGS, JUST EFFING PLAIN... YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYGGGGGHHHHH.

So, fine. We find one. And we're likely not touching it again until we get a new bed another decade in the future.

Bedding Sets. The more reasonably priced ones will have the pillow cases, a fitted sheet and a flat sheet.

What the hell is a flat sheet even FOR? O_o It's not thick enough to be a blanket. And seems like too much of a pain to be for the mattress. We'd be endlessly tucking in corners. I don't get it.

I want a plain comforter and a fabric coverlet that has the pattern. I like being able to unzip it, take the comforter out and throw the coverlet in the laundry.

I can buy one of those expensive sets but those include a skirt and a comforter with the same pattern on top of pillow cases, fitted sheet, flat sheet. I'm still missing a coverlet and I'd have an extra flat sheet that I have no idea what to do with.

Fortunately, I have a Mother-in-Law That Rocks... and Sews, but she Rocks more than she Sews. =)

We got two of the cheap sets, one solid colour set and one patterned set that complements the solid colour nicely. She took the two flat sheets, cut them to the right size and sewed them together with a zipper along one side to make the coverlet.

Now we have two sets of stuff. If we're using the solid colour set, we flip the comforter over so it's solid side up. If we're using the patterned set, we make it patterned side up. Or we can even forget to and it will look fine.

*teehee* =D

weather	:		clear
outside	:		7°C
mood	:		happy

無論
疾病或健康
貧窮或富裕
美貌或失色
順利或失意

Through success, and failure;
For better, for worse;
For richer, for poorer;
In sickness, and in health.

           — December 20, 1991

weather	:		rain
outside	:		5°C
mood	:		amused

It's incredibly funny when the Husband falls asleep while making out. It's like dying batteries: *nnnneeeeeeeerrrr....* XD XD

Then he'd partially wake up and continue as if nothing happened. By that time, I'm close to having a seizure trying not wake him up with my laughing. =D

Poor guy, he's SO TIRED, but still horny.

It gets even funnier when he tries to deny that he fell asleep: "I was just taking a little break..." Uh-huh. Yeah. =D

weather	:		raining
outside	:		7°C
mood	:		giggly

I have this blouse that I love to wear. It's burgundy, one of my favorite colours and it fits me very nicely, considering.

The only problem is the top button keeps popping open. When your body is a different size everywhere, you learn to live with one thing or another not fitting exactly right. I sewed the button shut permanently and just pull it over my head. Works great.

The Husband will still try to unbutton this shirt on the sly. He still falls for it every time.

And I laugh out loud every time he realizes he's been foiled again. XD

weather	:		threatening to rain
outside	:		14°C
mood	:		okay

Remember Commander Data's evil brother, Lore? Y'know how he can flip his fingernail open? Well, I can kinda do that too now. =)

We went disco bowling Saturday night with one of the Husband's co-workers, his wife and some of their friends. I forgot to trim my nails. They're not that long, but long enough to get caught in the thumb hole and get torn halfway across, mid-nailbed.

Somehow, when I get injured, it always hurts the Husband more than it hurts me. =D

Me: *study wound thoughtfully* "Oh look. It's like... bleeding. Hmm, interesting... y'think I should, maybe, do something about that?"

Husband: "AAAAAAEEEEIIIIOOOOOOOWERQWEADFGYIIERAH!!!!!!!"

I thought his knees were going to buckle if he didn't sit down. He was twitching and writhing torturedly when I talked about how cool it was to have a Lore's Fingernail (Event; Rare) while I flipped it open slightly to douse it with hydrogen peroxide.

For the record, it doesn't hurt. Unless I slam the broken nail upwards really fast. I had a bandaid on it, but I took it off because it was too hard to get a bandaid on in a nice, neat way on the tip of a thumb.

weather	:		cloudy
outside	:		13°C
mood	:		goofy

Apology accepted.

=)

weather	:		partially sunny
outside	:		15°C
mood	:		giggly

Do you feel comfortable in public with no shirt on?

I saw this question in a survey and thought "Uh, no." But it reminded me of how Husband Guy and I re-define "public" in different ways just to get each other. It's one of our ongoing ThingsTheHusbandAndIArgueAbout.Com fights. =D

It started out when I forgot to close the door on him taking a nap one hot summer. He play-yelled at me for leaving the door open so that "everyone" could see him sleeping naked. I yelled back between laughter that there was no one else in the house to constitute "a public".

It turns out, according to him, that the bedroom gets re-zoned as "public" territory as soon as the door is opened because it then is conjoined with the hallway which is definitely as public as the sidewalk in front of the house. When you live with other people in the house, I guess that's the way it is.

Some months later, I was changing in the bedroom, he walked in on me half naked. Silliness ensued:

Him: "What do you think you're doing, stripping in public?!"
Me: "I'm not in public! The door was closed."
Him: "If there are two or more people in any room in this house, it's considered public."

And it's just gotten worse from there. The next time he was in the washroom, I walked in and exclaimed my dismay at him peeing in public.

weather	:		drizzling
outside	:		19°C
mood	:		tired

Our new bed arrived on Saturday. I'm tired because it's Monday, not really because the new bed sucks... although, I still wake up with a sore back. It's not as bad as before, but it's still there. I remember reading somewhere that it takes a while to get used to a new bed, but I don't remember how long that was supposed to be. Less than 60 nights, I would imagine.

Holy zoodles, the thing is a super high Princess-And-The-Pea bed. It comes up to my hip and I'm almost taller sitting on it than I am standing. I think it's because it's on the bedframe.

Both the mattress and the box spring fabric match too.

We need to make a trip out to Home Outfitters to get a thinner cotton top fitted mattress pad. The one we have right now is really nice, but it's very thick, so I've woken up with a wet back these last two mornings. Ick. It might be nice for the winter though.

We need a skirt for the box spring. We were thinking of using the flat sheet as the skirt because we don't use the flat sheet, but decided that, no, that wasn't going to work. On second thought, we should rummage through the linen closet first. Maybe there's something in there we can steal.

We spent Friday evening and Saturday morning doing a bit of shuffling around. Our old double went to Brother-In-Law Dude. I was hesitant to give it to him at first. Not because I didn't want him to have it, but we got a new bed because I thought it was so old that it was causing my back problems. But, apparently it's still newer than his bed. I still can't believe that he was still sleeping on the mattress he'd had since childhood and no one's ever said, "hey, that's unhealthy, you need a new bed." *sigh* There was a plan in there somewhere, but it somehow didn't happen.

Convo with the Husband Guy:

Me: "I think you should tell him that it's ... really ... squeaky."
Him: "I think he knows."
Me: "..." =P =P =P

weather	:		partly cloudy
outside	:		26°C
mood	:		happy

( Bedding Survey )

I'm fairly certain our current bed is about 10 years old or older. Husband Guy got it shortly after we started going steady. But he seems to think it's much newer than that. Lately, I've noticed that I wake up with a sore mid/lower back every morning. This would go away when I got up. That used to only happen on weekends if I slept until noon. =P So, we tried flipping the mattress over. It helped a little, but I still woke up with a sore back that would disappear.

That, and it's gotten ... very ... squeaky ... *cough*

Friday evening, we stopped by Sleep Country on the way home because they're having their Mix'n'Match sale.

By about this time next week, we'll be sleeping on a Queen Serta Perfect Sleeper (Saxon) and the Husband's feet will no longer be sticking out the end of the bed.

We got their Comfort Accessories Package as well — a 200 thread count Taupe sheet set, mattress cover and two pillows. The sheets are in the laundry now.

The Perfect Sleeper is a pillow top mattress with memory foam, but it's not reversible. You can't flip it over and it's made to be sturdier on the one side so that you don't have to. We were told to rotate it every once in a while for more even compression because Husband Guy is a lot bigger and heavier than I am.

But because it doesn't have the pillow top on both sides, it reduces the mattress movement by a LOT when one of us tosses around. It was very noticeably steadier to me because Husband Guy shuffles the bed much more when he moves.

There was another Serta that had a much lower density foam and it felt quite a lot nicer when we were laying there in the store. But the pillow top was on both sides for flipping and it was not nearly as steady as the Serta.

I used to have a Simmons Beautyrest before I moved in with my husband and I found the "individual pocket coils" thing to be completely bullshit. The bowling ball test and the person jumping are staged somehow. A five year old baby brother jumping up and down on my bed on Saturday mornings proves (to ME at least, YMMV) that it is not motionless at all. And if you think about it, the fabric encasing will tug on the coils anyway even if they're capable of moving individually.

weather	:		mainly clear
outside	:		20°C
mood	:		blue

It's almost 2300h. I have a headache, but these days, I don't even want to take an Advil or anything for pain anymore. I'm not going to trash my liver for no reason. I can't go to bed though because I'm still waiting to pick up Husband Guy from work. It's been next to midnight pickups all last week as well. On a good day, he'll be done at around 1930h or 2000h. And they try not to work weekends. Try...

It's tough. I miss him. And I'm lonely. But there's nothing we can do about it. He has a job. I have a job. No complaining allowed.

Oh, he just IM'ed me. He's packing up to leave. Wow, they're packing it in early today.

weather	:		cloudy
outside	:		15°C
mood	:		silly

Would everybody please stop launching projectiles at My Poor Husband?

Fire at Will! Fire at Will!

What did he ever do to any of you? =(

weather	:		sun & cloud
outside	:		15°C
mood	:		cheerful

尺     壁     非     寶 Esteem not a foot of jade, 寸     陰     是     競 But value an inch of time. 上     和     下     睦 May each generation be in accord, 夫     唱     婦     隨 As husband and wife walk in harmony.

Fun trivia that you may not have known about us:

In the 12 years we've been together, he has never given me flowers.

And yet, I know I'm loved. On the rare occasion that we do argue, I don't get the regular apology bouquet. I don't always get an apology, for that matter. But I always get an earnest attempt to right the wrongs and he gets the same from me. Which is more than flowers, candy, gifts and "sorry" can ever say.

weather	:		mostly sunny
outside	:		21°C
mood	:		amused

This post has been brewing for a while =)

From time to time, I'll be accused of having a low self-esteem. I see a pattern in the worldviews of the people who say that though, so I'm not too worried... and that would be the nicest way I can possibly think of, to call them "cocky bastards" =D

I'm so kidding, of course =D =D In each case, they're my friends, I love them to bits, they mean well, but I don't think they quite understand me. =D

If I really lacked confidence that badly, I wouldn't be where I am today. Would I have been able to waltz into the department head's office and, in the middle of University cutbacks and layoffs, convince him to hire me for a job that he didn't know he needed? Would I be married to A Guy who has loved me unconditionally for most of my life, loves to entertain me, thinks of me first, respects what I have to say and even looks up to me in some ways?

I have a very realistic view of myself and my abilities. Being an INTJ, I know what I know, I know where I am compared to everyone else and, more importantly, I try to be competent enough to know what I don't know and what I'm not. I think the misinterpretation comes in because I'm more open about telling people where exactly where my boundaries are or where I make a guess at the point that my competence ends.

Modesty is a recurring theme in Chinese philosophy. Know thyself, as the Greeks put it.

Of course, everyone has a lack of confidence in different aspects of their lives and in varying degrees. But true low self-esteem repels others. Either you wouldn't want to be around the person for very long or you would never have found them in the first place. The ones you wouldn't want to be around are sometimes very belligerent and cantankerous (usually trolls in a forum where negative attention is better than no attention); sometimes whiny, pathetic, clingy, needy. The ones you wouldn't have known about are hiding from social interaction.

I'm not kidding anyone here, I'm not Ms. Popularity. But strangers find me and glom onto my journal. These are well-educated, intelligent, articulate strangers and decent people with their hearts generally in the right place. There are a few exceptions ("serial adders" and other annoying folk), but they're few and far between and I won't deign to acknowledge them.

The point is, these strangers wouldn't have stuck around if I were that pathetic. =)

weather	:		cloudy
outside	:		14°C
mood	:		happy-ish

Hippo Birdies, Husband Guy!!! pne beat me to it, but in my defence, he's 9 hours ahead of us.

Me: Philip says Happy Birthday.
Him: Philip who?
Me: Philip in Germany.
Him: Oh, the "Philip/Stella/About-To-Have-A-Baby" Philip?
Me: *giggle* Yeah, that Philip. =)

He got cake from Work and we went to The Keg last night for prime rib, even though he was only 29^364.75/₃₆₅ yesterday. =)

I have to say, I'm very proud of what he's done with his life. He went from not planning to do anything after highschool to Senior Development Lead. And will possibly go even further in the next little while. I don't want to say anything to jinx it... =}

The down side of today was having to take Skippy into the Veterinary ER this morning. Husband Guy put her cover on her cage last night so that maybe she'd sleep better. We've put the cover on her cage before, so it's not supposed to be a big deal. But last night, she somehow started thrashing. He took her out and looked her over, but didn't see anything, so he put her back.

This morning, her wings were bleeding on both sides. O_O It had clotted over, but she picked at it and it bled a little again. Birds don't have a lot of blood, so any bleeding at all can be fatal. Dr. Brigitte took her into the ER and made sure she was okay until Night Owl opened for Dr. McDonald to have a look at her.

Dr. Brigitte said Skippy weighed in at 80g though(!!) which does make sense because we know she's visibly bulked up quite a bit. She's been bouncing between 72-74g every morning for the last few weeks, so maybe our scale is weird. =P

At least Sid is home and doing well. He's looking much better, quite a bit more alert, active and doing less sitting around grooming.

*sigh* If it's not one, it's the other. =P =P =P

[Update - 1738h]

Skippy is doing fine. She just had a bad thrashing incident for the first time, but it'll be fine. Lutino cockatiels are just more prone to cage fright and thrashing than Greys. She's also molting so she's lost a lot of her baby flight feathers, but they're hollow and not bloody so they were mature feathers that were supposed to come off. No more covering her cage and once Sid is past the quarantine period, they're going to be on the family room side of the house. But at night, we're going to move them to the alcove in the other dining room at night, so that they're not in the high traffic area.

weather	:		sunny
outside	:		15°C
mood	:		sad/resigned

The Husband has been dealing with a lot of loss lately.

He was talking to me a while ago about getting over Guai-Guai's disappearance. He's a bit surprised that it had been less than a week and he'd already started to "get over it". And he said that he was also okay with Grandma's death in a short time as well — heh, we were goofing around in bed the morning after (no sexually explicit material; I'm not like that, sheesh =), but the debilitating sadness was pretty sporadic. I guess he thought that because he didn't feel sad longer, it meant he didn't love them as much as he ought.

I pointed out that losing someone who was suffering, as Grandma did, was always going to come with a little relief and the feeling that the death was actually a good thing, which is easier to accept. At Grandma's age and condition, that was the reality of it.

The bird... well, what's happened has happened. We've done everything we can to try to find him and there has to be a cut-off point where we say, "okay, that's it, he's gone". We couldn't keep escalating the search effort and our Rainy Day Fund — though I must say, is impressive for us — isn't bottomless.

No one can tell you how to grieve, for how long, in what way. It's highly individual in each case.

His grandfather, though, is a different kind of loss.

Grandpa was in town this last week and is slowly showing more and more signs of dementia. He's headed back to Taiwan now, but ... what a week. He forgets that Grandma is gone and keeps demanding to know (sometimes angrily) where she is. He blurs people together, often we're not sure if he's talking about Mother-In-Law, Grandma or his caretaker lady. He'll also transpose the caretaker lady and Grandma. He'll open the door, walk outside for no reason we know of and try to open other peoples' car doors with whatever is in his pocket (loose change?). He definitely can't be left alone.

He's still coherent when he's well rested. He asked me when we were going to Taiwan next and we had a pleasant conversation. But when Grandpa is tired, he starts hallucinating. It's very common in the elderly, but it scares everyone around them. Several times, Grandpa kept saying there were little kids. "What are those kids doing in our yard?!" ... there were no kids. Then he saw kids in his room and on his bed.

The night his jetlag hit the hardest, he completely flipped out about "the other people in the house", reamed us all out for renting out the house to other people (we're not renting anything out) and they were all stealing his stuff (he's already taken all his valuables with him the last time he was here). And he'd forget that he'd already yelled at us about it and repeatedly blew up several times about the same thing.

Watching a loved one deteriorate, mentally or physically, hurts just as much as actually losing them.

This is something Husband Guy hasn't experienced and I have limited exposure to. I offered to help him find a family support group or a counsellor or something if he needed someone to talk or someone who can help.

*sigh*

weather	:		cloudy
outside	:		12°C
mood	:		giggly

Preamble — Work, Home and Gas Station are almost exactly in a straight line, approximate distances are as in the following not-to-scale diagram:

W ----------------------- H ------ G

While carpooling to work with the Husband Guy one morning —

Me:	Hey, the empty light is on. We should get gas on the way home.
Him:	"On the way"? There isn't a gas station on the way home.
Me:	The Chevron at 41st.
Him:	That's not "on the way".
Me:	Yes, it is.
Him:	No, it's not.
Me:	Well, there's no gas station between Work and Home.
Him:	So, we'll go to the Chevron at 41st.
Me:	Right. We'll go on the way home.
Him:	It's not on the way!
Me:	Yes, it is! It's TEMPORALLY on the way!
Him:	That's not what "on the way" means. Tell you what. Post this on your LiveJournal and see what it means to everybody else, as opposed to <condescension>what it means to you</condescension>.

At that point, I'm glad we were at a red light because we were laughing so hard I couldn't drive. I cut the conversation down to bare essentials. There was a lot more in that exchange, including insults to each other's intelligence, play fighting, we stopped to get gum, etc.

So, I put it to you, Gentle Readers.

Poll #267404 "On The Way"
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 35

Can I use "on the way" in the temporal sense?

weather	:		drizzling
outside	:		7°C
mood	:		calm

How have I managed to stay together with A Guy who has forgotten/missed Valentine's Day for the 11th year in a row?

He didn't get pissy about driving with me to the ER, in the ice and snow, close to midnight, to see my Mom and be available for my Dad, who rode in the ambulance with her, which meant he had no ride home. And he went out there with me again when we found out that the paperwork couldn't all get through for the hospital to provide Mom dinner for the first night of her stay, so we had to make something and take it to her.

He was understanding and supportive enough to be okay with me removing my engagement/wedding rings for job interviews back in mid-2001.

He's always happy as a clam to see me after being apart for even a few hours. This was something my Mom noticed and told me about a month ago.

Some time ago, we were in a quasi-lineup to get food and I was in front of him. I took something and moved on. From behind me, he said, "Did you want this piece?"

Me: *giggle* If I wanted it, don't you think I would have taken it? =D

Him: Sometimes you don't take what you want because you think I want it. You're all silly like that.

It's things like this, all year around, that more than make up for it.

weather	:		sunny
outside	:		8°C
mood	:		torn

[This post was originally Friends Only.]

I ordered Husband Guy a gift from Amazon: SSX 3 Soundtrack. He has SSX 3 for the Playstation 2 and loves it, so I thought he might like to have the music tracks too =)

I had it sent to me at work, but I honestly didn't think it would arrive in time for Valentine's Day, so I had it in mind to give it to him for his birthday (in June). Well, Office Manager Lady dropped off a huge box for me just now — it's the CD. My god, they ship CDs in the most gigantasmic boxes. =D

So, now I don't know when to give it to him: Valentine's or Birthday?

I can wait five months without blowing my cover, that's no problem. I got last year's birthday gift for him in March and kept it hidden until June.

We've never done anything for Valentine's anyway and I'm not sure I want to start now. I really don't want to feel like I'm feeding the Retail Stupidity™. I also don't want him to think that he has to do something for me. I've seen so much psychosis about gifts: remembering, forgetting, how big, not enough, timing and all that drama. I hate it and avoid it like the plague.

But there's a certain amount of *SQUEE* in wanting to give him something that I know he'd like and seeing him happy.

Maybe I've answered my own question, but what do you all think?

[Update - February 14, 2004]

I ended up giving it to him for Valentine's. I couldn't bear to make him wait until June. =}

Happy Valentine's, Sweetheart. =)

weather	:		cloudy
outside	:		7°C
mood	:		*LMAO*

Oh yeah, following yesterday's injury report, the Husband says to me "What happened to my Patella Oblongata again?"

BWAHAHAHAHA!!! XD XD XD

Well, I always knew there was something wrong with his head, but this is ridiculous... *znorf* =D

weather	:		light rain
outside	:		7°C
mood	:		*sigh*

So, my Power Forward Husband has Patellar Tendinitis a.k.a. The Jumper's Knee. There's a tendon that joins the patella (the knee cap) and the tibia (the thing that finds furniture in the dark). That tendon is inflamed.

It was fine on Sunday when he played. It didn't start hurting until Wednesday and it hurt enough today that he asked me to drive him to see the Chiropractor. He just has to ice it for 15 minutes at a time to get the inflammation down and stay off of it if possible. Which is fine with me, I like being on top anyway... XD

He only plays basketball once a week, but he's had problems with his knees every January for the past few years. He has weak knee structures for his body. Ah well... it's just as well because Basketball-Buddy-P screwed up his ankle pretty badly and can't play for the next 2 months.

weather	:		cloudy
outside	:		7°C
mood	:		ecstatic

Because I'll always jump at the chance to brag about my husband... =D

I can FINALLY announce the game that Husband Guy has been busting his butt over, all summer. It's the very first one in the list on Verizon Wireless Games List and available for the Motorola T720, LG VX6000, Motorola T730.

*FANFARE* *FANFARE* *FANFARE* *FANFARE* *FANFARE*

The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King

The final chapter in The Lord Of The Rings™ trilogy comes
to wireless from JAMDAT. Take characters on an adventure
that includes multiple levels and challenges.

IGN Wireless Review; GameSpot Review.

I'm so proud of him for making such a cool game and putting up with JAMDAT. He truly has the patience of a Saint. I would have turned homicidal long ago.