unexpected holiday

I'm liking these additional days off. We had MLK's birthday as a holiday and now President's Day. We never used to get either day off. I almost go through vacation-day withdrawal every year because I take the majority of my vacation days at the end of December - a good two solid weeks, usually - so then to come back in January with the thought that my next day off might not be until Memorial Day in May is not pretty.

I'm intending to do many things today. I have good intentions, as Lyle Lovett would say, though I have bad follow-through on them. I intend to clean the house, do laundry, read, finish a painting, go through a stack of papers and file them, cook something interesting, and who knows what else. Any bets as to what I actually get done?

plan a novel with needles

It's an interesting phenomenon that when you stop for a minute (or several), I mean really stop and come out of the rushing routine whereby you have no time to notice anything, you notice everything, and ideas come forward that have probably been backed up for who knows how long.

So I was at the acupuncturist's today, lying on the treatment table with a needle in my ankle, one in my knee (and I swear those two were talking to each other), and a few others in various strategic places, and in the space of 15 minutes, I had worked out the plot, and I mean the entire plot, of an idea for a novel that I've been struggling with for several years now. The idea won't go away, so I assume that means that it wants to be written, but for the longest time, I couldn't see how the story would flow from beginning to end. And there it was in 15 minutes. Amazing. And all because I just stopped everything. Now if I can just remember it all so that I can come up with an outline and get it all written finally...

hi ho, hi ho, it's off to the dental surgeon we go

Em had her wisdom teeth taken out today. I drove her there to provide sisterly support. She decided to go the full-sensory-deprivation-and-back-up-drugs route. Wise choice. I was only able to afford the novocaine, and then had to have it done in two sessions, rather than all at once. There's nothing worse than a needle in your jaw. Honestly, there IS nothing worse.

The surgeon is nice - one I recommend to everyone. She won't let you see the needle, and she makes you look up to the troll-with-the-wild-pink-hair sticker on her ceiling, so that when she does go at you with the needle, you can't see it.

I drove Em home and camped out in her dining room with my laptop (ah, the wonders of telecommuting). When I went into her bedroom to check on her, she had rigged up an ice pack consisting of two socks tied at the top with the ice down in the toe part. The whole thing hung around her head like some kind of new kerchief style, and of course, I didn't have a camera.

more birthday stuff

Plans are underway for my 30th birthday in May. I asked for something simple and low-key with the family, and there seems to be some confusion as to what that means. I guess that means I need to take the reins and plan it. I'm thinking a picnic on my aunt's farm. I'm thinking my mother makes my cake, like she used to do for me and my sister when we were kids - she created some masterpieces. I'm thinking everyone gives me a piece of advice on turning 30 (to get it out of their systems) rather than tangible gifts. I'm thinking that the last time I had an extended-family birthday party, I was four or five. I'm thinking what's really going to change between 29 and 30? I'm thinking I'm too young to be 30. I'm thinking I'd better start being more grateful that people think I only look 25, because who knows how long that will last? I'm thinking I should have accomplished more by now, though I don't know what "more" is. I'm thinking I think too much.

shabby chic-ing

I'll say one thing for cold winter weather - because it tends to keep one indoors, those house projects that have been put off for far too long have a way of getting done. Lately, I've been redecorating - getting rid of (or painting over) dark wood and dark colors. Now it's white plus a complement color. My bathroom went from dull yellow and wood to pale sage green and white. My bedroom is undergoing change as well. White walls and dark gray carpet are slowly becoming blue walls and I-don't-know-what-color-yet carpet. The rest of the decor in the room is becoming pale blue and white. And go me for being thrifty and realizing in time that the dark wood night tables didn't need to be thrown out and new ones bought - they just needed a few coats of white paint. Plus, cat hair tends not to show as much on lighter colors.

happy birthday, grandma!

It's my grandmother's birthday, today. She's 76. I think. Maybe 75. She doesn't look it. She looks a good 10 or 15 years younger. The women in my family tend to live twice as long as the men do. I hope I've got her genes. She's still pretty active - she does her own housework, volunteers at church and at the Red Cross, goes on bus tours, takes trips to Europe, has lunch with her friends, reads. I wonder if it's that cocktail of vitamins and medications that she takes in the morning. It could be attitude, too. She has strong beliefs and opinions about everything. She's been through a lot, and I can only assume that it's made her more resilient. I'll tell you why I adore her: when my parents divorced, she came to see us, and said that she wasn't so much worried about my parents as she was about me and my sister. She wanted to know how WE were holding up. THAT is a cool grandmother.