KHOE played an entire side of an old Carpenter’s album this morning. It was the one with “sharin’ horizons that are new to us / workin’ together day to day… TOGETHER,” whatever that song was called.

Anyway. I’ve never listened to this album before, and what kept me from changing the station was my sick fascination with the fact that Karen apparently could not sing. I mean, I’ve heard the Carpenters on the radio all my life, just like the rest of you, and I never new she couldn’t sing.

What I heard today was awful. Out of tune, breathy, bad phrasing, awkward… yet it sounded exactly like the hits I’m used to from AM radio.

Was it a remastered re-release? Was it badly EQed? I don’t know, but whatever it was it was terrible. Guh.
——–

 

Seven things I thought about while I was in the bathroom this afternoon showering, drying my hair, fixing my face, and getting dressed.

1. Ganglion cyst
My accursed cyst disappeared sometime yesterday afternoon ALL BY ITSELF! I mean, it was there around three or four yesterday afternoon, I remember because I was trying on a mitten I was knitting and I saw it there, then at dinner at Noodle House last night with Tahmi & Jason I noticed that IT WAS GONE! Halleluia. For real.

Some might not consider a ganglion cyst a ‘personal hygiene’ issue, but I hated it the way I hate a mutant eyebrow hair or a hangnail or a zit.

2. Pudgelette
My God, how did I get so fat?!?

I put on a pair of jeans today (that I last wore before my BFP, a mere seven weeks ago) and damn if I can barely breathe in them. Damn!

3. Perfect nails
I had perfect nails just three days ago. Like, PERFECT. Like, “Are you drinking gelatin?” perfect.

Then life happened. Now I have a bunch of no-nails and about four freakishly long ones, like those sickening coke nails hipsters and dudes called Huggy grew in the 70’s.

4. Body hair
If I didn’t love y’all, I’d take a post a picture of the HUGE WAD OF HAIR that coagulated forlornly in the drain after my shower today, but I do so I won’t.

Suffice it to say that whatever wonder pregnancy hormones had wrought is well past now, and I’m back to going bald again. GOD DAMN IT.

To add insult to injury, my amusing and dismaying colony of chest hair has grown back since its last shave with a fucking vengeance.

5. Makeup
I saw The Mummy the other night. There’s a scene in it where the female lead is dressed up like a Bedoin or something, in veils and black eyeliner.

I just happen to own a container of honest-to-goodness middle eastern kohl, given to me by Ilana Iguana for my birthday about a decade ago. It came with a metal applicator – basically a giant, round-pointed toothpick – which I’ve lost. But the lid unscrews and it has a built in plastic applicator in it. To apply this wondrous eyeliner, you just put the applicator between your lids, close your eyes, and draw it from the inner to outer corners. When you open your eyes, YOU LOOK FANTASTIC. Seriously. Dude.

As a contact wearer, I don’t apply it that way: I draw it on like a pencil, and only on the lower lid. Then I swoop on some mascara and I feel pretty and Eastern-looking. (Fat, but pretty.)

6. Teeth
I need to get my teeth cleaned.

About two years ago.

7. Sex appeal
The wonderful thing about my husband is that no matter what, no matter if I’m pudgy or losing my hair or if I have a giant zit on my nose or I haven’t bothered to bathe in three days or I haven’t bothered to wear clothes that MATCH let alone take any care whatsoever with my appearance and I look frumpy and unloveable, he always makes it perfectly clear that he still wants to Do It with me.

Because he’s wonderful. 🙂

 

parker.jpgKrista had her baby this morning. The baby weighed 9 lbs. 4 oz., and mother and daughter are doing fine.

There’s nothing there yet, but I imagine that in a few days our new niece will appear on the Skiff Babies on the Web! page. (Unless, of course, there’s another hospital in Newton that I don’t know about, or they decided not to post images for some reason.)

Congrats, Krista & Andy! Welcome, Parker!

 

Dishes are done, laundry’s in, and dusting’s out of the way. Blazing fire in the woodstove.

A frozen cheese pizza, a couch, and three episodes of Farscape on TiVO.

Ah, happiness.
——–

 

I just went to Mi-T-Mart for a treat. It smells like rancid chicken fat and melted engine parts in the parking lot.

It was so intense I decided to share.

No doubt it will blow away soon.
—–

 

My desire to posess an iPod is becoming almost absurd.

By God, I want one! Now!

The more I think about it, the more I want it!

I want to carry five thousand songs in my pocket! I want to listen to audio books! I want backlighting! I want solitaire! I want, I want, I want!

 

I’m feeling practically normal, finally! No more crying jags! In other words, my hormones are totally back to normal. Yay!

I had a pelvic exam yesterday (oh joy… NOT) and the nurse midwife agrees that I’m not pregnant. Since I haven’t had a normal period yet I’m taking this truly horrible-awful-bad tasting emmenagogue to get things flowing. Yuk.

I woke up absurdly early this morning, and then fell asleep on the couch and didn’t wake back up until 11:30. Grr. So much for working a full day today! I feel like a jerk; I feel so much better I should celebrate by… getting my ass to work for a few hours!

So I’m off to town to grab a bite to eat and to drop by the office for a few hours and see if the DSL database is doing okay.

I’ll try and write a truly interesting blog post sometime before the year’s up, I promise!

 

I got scolded by a friend via email for letting my blog basically be a cliffhanger – is she pregnant? does she have a job? and what about Christmas shopping?

Well, sorry. Here’s the update.

I have no pregnancy symptoms at all and I think I need a D&C pretty much ASAP. I’ve put in a call to my midwife for advice on that front; in the worst case I’ll drive up to IC to the clinic I used to go to. I don’t have any pain and I’m not running a temperature, so I should be fine for another day or two. This is, I believe, what you call a ‘missed abortion.’ And no, it isn’t any fun at all.

My job is fine. They didn’t cut pay nor lay anyone else off. I missed the meeting Friday, but Buzz emailed to say it was just an informational meeting about the ILEC.

And no, I haven’t done a lick of Christmas shopping. I’m pretty much totally involved with my own little health journey right now. Hopefully I’ll get the gift-buying done before X-mas eve, though!

My attitude wobbles from adequate to fairly bad. I feel like a hypochondriac because I’m worried sick about what’s not going on in my uterus, but like I said I really don’t have any reason to be worried. I’m tired or more likely a wee bit depressed, and I don’t entirely trust that my hormones are letting me perceive my emotional reality accurately.

All in all, everything is normal – no reason to panic. Oh, and fertility sucks.
——–

 

Yesterday I made a loaf of bread in the bread machine. Last night I had a midnight snack of fresh bread with butter and rasperry jam. OMFG that’s good stuff!
——–

 

Did I mention that five folks I work with suddenly got laid off earlier this week?

Well, to add to the stomach-turning nervousness of the department, we’ve all been invited to a mandatory meeting tomorrow afternoon! Sweet!

Not.

After the mandatory meeting email went out, I noticed a few folks casually checking online want-ads… just in case.

Out of curiosity I visited the Iowa Workforce Development and looked for jobs in my area… do you realize that to continue to make my current hourly wage, I’d have to be a certified CNA, a nurse, a dog trainer, or a truck driver?

Continue reading »