Category Archives: Love

Bor. Ing. Boring.

December 5, 2005Domestic Goddess, MusicMush

In which I have a suspicion.

Rehearsal last night rocked. I love this band. We ate an entire box of chocolates during the dinner break. (“We” being everyone but the bass player who didn’t have any chocolate at all.) Please note we’ll be playing the ballroom at the Best Western with Bambu on NYE and you should be there. I’m even going to buy new shoes for it.

After rehearsal I drove home and promptly fell asleep… which means I woke up at three in the morning. Then I slept from six ’til ten. My sleep schedule is toast.

In the war on domestic disorder, I’ve swept and dusted and tidied the house and carried laundry baskets up and down the damn stairs, and brought in wood and kindling, and started the dishes. (I hate doing the dishes, so I put them all in to soak in scorching hot water and never go back to finish them. Because I HATE them.) I scrubbed the toilet, which makes me wish to live in an all-female commune because the things that men do to toilets leave me shocked and irritated. I finished the dishes. I made enchiladas for dinner and key lime bars for dessert. I made myself a White Russian and drank it. I washed and folded two bushels of clothes. I opened the back door and swept all the leaves back outside where they belong.

It occurs to me that I could not be any more boring if I were clinically dead. (Which I might actually be; haven’t checked.)

Dog. Snow. Thing.

November 30, 2005Blurbs, Pets, WeatherMush

In which I list three unrelated, random things. Because this is my blog, damn it, and damn those ‘what to write about’ blog treatises too, because I’ve been blogging since before there was a fucking word for it and I’ll write whatever the hell I want to!

One. I made meatloaf for Bread’s dinner the night before last, and neglected to put it away fast enough. When I came downstairs around 8:30 that night, Bread was asleep on the couch and the meatloaf, which had been sitting in a pyrex dish on top of the stove, was gone.

Shiva had very carefully stood up on his hind legs and eaten a whole pound of meatloaf without knocking the casserole dish to the floor, since the sound of it shattering would surely have waken even Bread and earned that dog an ass whoopin’.

I mean, a whole pound of meatloaf?! Bad dog! (Clever, quiet, sneaky bad dog!)

Two. This wholly unwelcome news is just in:

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN QUAD CITIES HAS ISSUED A SNOW ADVISORY…WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 7 PM THIS EVENING TO 6 AM CST THURSDAY.

A FAST MOVING WINTER STORM SYSTEM WILL MOVE FROM EASTERN NEBRASKA TO WESTERN ILLINOIS BY THURSDAY MORNING…BRINGING WIDESPREAD SNOWFALL TO THE AREA. THE HEAVIEST SNOW WILL OCCUR FROM ABOUT MIDNIGHT TO 4 AM…WITH A BAND OF 2 TO 4 INCHES EXPECTED FROM EASTERN IOWA INTO WEST CENTRAL ILLINOIS.

THE SNOW WILL BE HEAVY AT TIMES…WITH VISIBILITY REDUCED TO A QUARTER MILE OR LESS AND SNOWFALL RATES POSSIBLY AS HIGH AS 1 INCH PER HOUR FOR A SHORT TIME. SNOWFALL TOTALS BY MORNING ARE EXPECTED TO REACH 2 TO 4 INCHES.

Guess what? The shitty weather’s here! Maybe I’ll get lucky and get snowed in and have to read books in front of the fire and drink lattes.

Once again I’m soooo thankful I have a 4WD! Not.

Three. Yesterday, Bucket gave me a cute little case for my external hard drive enclosure. You really can’t get much geekier than having a custom zippy case with a shoulder strap just for carrying your external USB drive around with you.

In other news, it’s five o’clock, and I’m off to the tavern for a hard-earned cocktail. Okay, all I did was move a couple of web sites and talk on the phone a few times, so perhaps “hard-earned” is pushing it. But it’s five and I’m still awake by God so I figure I’ve earned something.

Seven Year Itch

November 2, 2005Love & MarriageMush

In which I see a Taco Bell commercial on TV at the bar and succumb.

Last night Brett and I stopped after work at the Dead Cock for a bit. I chatted with Hattie, who was bartending, and Rachel, who dropped in briefly and told me about a new game she and her boyfriend had invented on account of his new fly-fishing motifed boxers. They call it Cock Fishing. (You figure it out. Wink.) She’s so funny.

After people left, Brett and I chatted for awhile about our day. I bitched about having to do a mail merge document for the first time in like elevently hundred years and how I was too damned stuck up to RTFM and it took me much longer than it should have; he bitched about having to re-do several window casings because some moron on his crew didn’t understand that a hexagon needed to have six equal sides.

Then we went home and I ate Taco Bell drive-thru and he had a couple of meatloaf sandwiches and we fell asleep on the couch.

~+~+~
It occurs to me that Mr. Brett and I have been together now for about seven years. Perhaps that’s why the road has recently become so rocky. I never expected marriage to be easy, exactly; I’m willing to do the work. But damn it’s rough when you want different things. We-ness ain’t always easy when you’re both stubborn, independent first-borns with wicked selfish streaks.

And yes, we’ve been talking. We’ve talked more in the past few weeks than we have in the past few years. I’m really digging the new communication level, actually. And I love the man to death. It’s just that sometimes I want to hold his head under water until he quits being so irritating.

No doubt he never feels the same about me, because I’m a fucking dream to live with.

Four Days and a Bit

November 1, 2005Love & MarriageMush

Being an exhaustive report spanning four entire days, plus this morning.

Friday
Friday I did domestic shit: laundry, dishes, shopping, cooking, dusting and sweeping. Housewifery is boring and it sucks.

We were going to go out Friday night, but Redbone fell asleep for a nap and didn’t bother to wake back up. Since he works an absurd schedule (you couldn’t pay me enough to get up at 4:30 in the morning on a regular basis) and we were planning on going out Saturday night for the Halloween party anyway, I just watched some shows I’d TiVoed and cuddled with my dogs on the couch and didn’t take it personally. (Yeah, right.)

Saturday
We went to Keosauqua to get wood for our woodstove on Saturday. The weather was gorgeous. Jimbo and Redbone ran around cutting things up with chainsaws. Chuckie helped Ella collect rocks and things. The dogs ran around doing canine stuff, and I took a couple of walks and read the rest of Eragon, which was really cute but not the most compelling book I’ve ever read. I also took a nap in the back of the cab of Redbone’s truck. Continue reading Four Days and a Bit →

Music Are Better!

October 29, 2005MusicMush

In which I liked the band.

Thursday after work I met Mr. Brett at the Dead Cock for drinks. He went home eventually and I finished my cocktail and went out to find dinner. I ran into Hattie on her way in to work and said I’d be back to see her later.

I walked around the corner hoping to eat at either La Petit Paris or Revelations, but both were closed and I ended up having tostadas and chile rellenos at Los Portales.

After eating I sat in my car with the heat running – I hate winter – and read Eragon in e-book format on my PPC for about twenty minutes, then went to rehearse with House 11.

The band was tight, the vibe was really mellow, and rehearsal was fun. I’ve agreed to sing with them, so now I have a New Years Eve gig at the Best Western (opening with them for Big Bambu). They’re in that business-model originals-band-with-a-constitution phase, which means more writing/arranging/rehearsal than gigging, but after talking with Greg for about two hours after rehearsal, I realized he’s right: I don’t want to do endless gigs in smoky bars – it’s far better to do fewer higher quality gigs than it is to work your ass off and get nowhere. I mean, who am I kidding? I don’t want to sing covers at The Den Two for pissed off abattoir workers every weekend. (The last time I performed there, someone threw a fucking ashtray at the bandstand.) I’d like it for a month or two, then I’d get sick of it and start to hate the audiences which is always a bad headspace for a performer to be in.

So I’m still going to check out that other band on Monday, but I’ve already committed to doing this House 11 thing.

After rehearsal and then a long conversation with Greg (he’s one of those people I can’t stop chatting with – I just have to say “Walk away now or we’ll be here another hour!” and drive off), I stopped for gas and went back to the bar. Hattie served me a big glass of water (I hadn’t taken any to rehearsal, which was dumb) and sat to chat with me. I got home about 12:30 and crashed.

So: I have a gi-iiiiiig! I have a gi-iiiiiig! Neener neener neener!

In other news, you should go check out Stanford on iTunes immediately and fill your iPod all up with nifty things.

Rock Star

October 27, 2005MusicMush

Wallflower no more, y’all.

Tonight I’m going to rehearse with a band that’s thinkin’ about hiring me. Monday night I’m going to sit in with another band that’s thinkin’ about hiring me.

It’s damned exciting to realize that within weeks of announcing my intention to start singing again (if you can call telling my friends and letting the grapevine handle it “announcing” anything), people are calling me up at work and offering me gigs.

Here’s the skinny on my two upcoming ‘auditions’:

Tonight Greg’s band is an established band that’s been gigging around for awhile, but they’re in some kind of new members/new material phase so I’d hire on initially as a backup singer. I don’t really know anything else about them, their book, their gig schedule, or anything, other than Greg said they were going to try doing some Steely Dan covers (which speaks well for the players’ chops). They seem to have a “we’re in the process of becoming a slightly different band than we were before and it’s very exciting!” vibe.
Monday night Randy’s band is new but made of players with histories and good gig contacts and it’s all but ready to gig – they’re learning five new R&B covers a week, and their current book is already a few minutes shy of four sets. If I love them best I’d be fronting. They seem to have a “let’s gig a lot and make money” vibe.

Now, I’ve never seen or heard either of these bands so I don’t have any inkling which one I’ll like better (or which one will like me better), but let me tell you the idea of being in a working band again is really appealing! What the hell have I been doing these past several years?

In other news, if I read your blog and you haven’t updated it since September, I hate you.

Guitar

October 12, 2005MusicMush

In which I get a new toy.

This is an old acoustic that Bucket ‘gave’ me, and of which I have indefinite custody.

My new free guitar!

It needs strings sooooo bad, and I will buy it some and hopefully start playing regularly. All in an effort to be, you know, more musical. I’m thinking about lessons, even though I would probably never go to lessons, and about starting to write a little… even though I haven’t written a song on a guitar since I was sixteen – more than twenty years ago.

Would someone explain to me how I became old enough to say things like “more than twenty years ago”?! Shite.

Who is this man?

September 27, 2005Love & MarriageMush

In which I’m a wee bit confused.

Yesterday I did boring domestic stuff. In the evening, I made dinner. Then I ate. Brett wasn’t home, so I went upstairs and got on the computer and spent nearly 45 minutes trying to pay for his contractor’s insurance online via a slow, buggy site.

When I went back downstairs, Brett had come home and eaten his dinner, and then he’d put away the leftovers and done the dishes. Both of the cast iron pans I’d used were clean and dry on top of the stove and everything.

He’s never done that before.

The man in my house looks like my husband, but he doesn’t act like my husband. He’s been helpful and thoughtful and sweet and cuddly since our Big Talk after our vacations. He’s gone shopping with me, taken me out on Saturday night, and kissed me every time he’s left or arrived.

Honestly, it’s kinda freakin’ me out.

In other news, I need a gig. I’m thinking of making one up. Anybody want to be in a band with me? I’m thinking of doing a one- or two-show revue this Winter. Just for somethin’ to do. Songs I like with players I like. Nothin’ too intense.

A Night at the Dead Cock

September 25, 2005Love & MarriageMush

In which I’m rescued.

Last night, Brett actually wanted to do something. We went to town and spent a few hours at The Red Rock tavern (we call it the Dead Cock because it’s such a nasty bar). Ed was having a going away party and there was nothing else to do.

I had a blast talking with Hattie and Rachel. I had a few cocktails. Brett was drinking Red Bull & Jagermeister, of all things. (I had a sip of one and it tastes much better than it sounds, but still.)

Rachel & Hattie doing a boisterous “Ha-ha-haaah!” for me

Hattie eventually left, and Rachel and I moved to the dance floor.

You have to understand that my husband has never had a jealous moment since I met him. All the times I’ve needed rescuing from various drunken and over-friendly male humanoids, he’s done nothing. Once, years ago, when I asked him about it, he said, “Ah, I figure you can take care of yourself.”

Well, last night while Rachel and I were dancing, a couple of older Mexican dudes moved in on us and tried to dance with us. One of them was touching me. I gave Rachel the look, and she moved in and got the guy off me per the strictures of proper girls-in-a-bar-fending-off-unwanted-advances etiquette: we had it handled. Still, within less than two seconds Brett was suddenly there, and he was clearly smokin’ pissed off. He made a space around me in the middle of the very packed and very loud dance floor and yelled in my ear, “Let’s go before I get in a fight with this fucking guy.” I leaned over to Rachel and said, “Sorry, guess I’m leaving now. Bye,” and Brett immediately dragged me out of the bar.

He was so angry he was literally pale as we walked to his truck. I have never seen this kind of behaviour out of him in the seven years we’ve been together. I think that years ago this kind of jealous/protective posturing would have made feel all warm and fuzzy inside, but last night it just pissed me off because it was so out of left field. (And because I’m so tired of having him drag me home as soon as the music gets good enough to dance to.)

I asked him about it today, and he shrugged and said, “A man just shouldn’t put his hands on another man’s wife like that.” I told him that’s just how Latin dudes are and that the guy didn’t mean anything by it, and I teased him about all the other times he didn’t do shit for me. He said he didn’t really have a good reason for last night’s behavior, it just made him really fucking angry to see that guy touching me like that. (All he did was put his hands on my waist for second, and try to capture my hands to dance with me.)

“Could it have been from all the caffeine in all that Red Bull you were drinking?” I teased.

“Coulda been,” he admitted. “Because I doubt it was from the Jagermeister.”

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