Football Victory, Fire, Fights with Boys, Copper's Ears and Butt, and Other Forms of Procrastination

1. Football Victory: My Spartans didn't let me down (for once). Yesterday they defeated our arch-rival Michigan Wolverines in the Big House for the first time since 1990. We hadn't beat them at all since 2001. I watched the game over at a friend's house with some others from work. We were supposed to go to another co-worker's anniversary party after the game, but apparently cheering on our team left us too tired. I was home and in bed by 10:00.

2. Fire: When I got home from work one day this week and logged onto Facebook, I found a friend's status message about a fire raging in his apartment and how the status of his cat was unknown. We exchanged a few texts over the afternoon, but he didn't hold out much hope for the kitty; his apartment was a total loss along with 9 others in the building (he says the fire started in his apartment, but I'm not sure of the accuracy of this as a cause has not been determined). Good news came later as his cat was found... wet, scared, and a bit singed, but no sign of smoke inhalation, so she should be fine. Also good news that he was insured, although it will not cover his losses completely, and, of course, nothing can replace the things of sentimental value.

3. Fights with Boys: All this week an argument has been brewing with my friend Richard. There's a lot of things that figure into it, but basically I'm sick of him not respecting me. It seems he can find time to spend with pretty much anyone else in his life, but not me. I know... it sounds like I'm being petty, but I swear there is just more that I'm not willing to discuss publicly. The thing is... it's now been three days since I talked to him and I'm just sad. I know I'm right in this, but I just wonder why boys have to be stupid.

But that's nothing compared to the news I got a week ago from my mom... My older sister is divorcing her husband after nine years of marriage. Apparently she's been unhappy for years and has just had enough. This also makes me sad. While he can be a bit of an annoying oaf, I like my brother-in-law, but I'm not the one who has to live with him. I know it's got to be hard for my sister to admit that her marriage is over. She's not the type of person who likes to admit failure in any area.

4. Copper's Ears and Butt: Copper had her routine vet appointment this week for her vaccinations, so I had budgeted in the expected $100 or so. Once her double ear infections were diagnosed, "excessively full" anal glands were expressed, and hookworms and tapeworms were treated (Eddie got a dose of treatment, too), it cost more than double that. She goes back in a week for a recheck on the ears, so that will be at least another twenty bucks. Did you know that the monthly heartworm preventative that I thought also prevented all those other worms actually only controls an infestation until it can be treated? Yeah, neither did I.

5. Other Forms of Procrastination: Yeah, I have papers I should be grading. I have sat on my ass most of the day watching shows on the DVR instead of grading them, or even cleaning the house (my typical form of schoolwork avoidance). The one bit of work I did get done is the laundry (although there is still a load waiting to be folded in the dryer).

I also stepped on the scale today. Holy crap. I did actually go running yesterday, which was a good start, but I guess I'm going to have to start watching what I eat again, too. I was really hoping to avoid counting points again, but I think it might have to happen. I'm at my heaviest weight ever. No wonder my jeans are so stinking tight.

Petty?

Recently there's been an explosion of Facebook usage by people who went to my high school. I hesitate to say my friends from high school, as quite a few of the people I've recently received friend requests from are people I don't even remember from high school. Some of them graduated two or three years after me, which explains things, but others claim to have been in my class and yet... nothin'. No memory whatsoever. I don't get it. I didn't go to that big of a school.

At any rate, one night a couple of weeks ago, I logged in and a newly added friend had a status update complaining about the class of '93's lack of a 15-year reunion this year. It also asked if anyone had seen G. As in my ex-fiance. Well, I couldn't help myself. I commented simply that, while I hadn't talked to him myself in quite some time, I knew of his whereabouts and vital statistics through his sister.

But I couldn't leave it at that. I decided to do a search for G. and see if, by any chance, he was also a Facebook user. Turns out he is. I sent him a friend request with a brief message about how the previously mentioned friend (who had been quite close to G. in high school) had been inquiring about him.

A few days later, G. replied to my message. He thanked me for putting him in touch with our friend and that that he'd also found our former band director (also on my friend list). But he didn't respond to my friend request. Yet he added both the friend who was looking for him and our former band director. When I looked again a couple days ago, I saw that he had also added another friend from high school (who I'm sure requested G., not the other way around), yet he has still not responded to my request. And we've sent a couple of brief messages to one another since then as well, so it's not that he's totally ignoring me.

I'm sure that G. has nothing against being "friends" with me on Facebook. He knows there are no bad feelings between us. But I'm sure that W. would never allow it. I don't get it, though. If anyone should be bitter in this situation, it would be me, not her. She won for God's sake! She's the one who married him and gave birth to his children. Not me. I just don't understand. I even requested her as a friend as well, just so that she knew I was not trying to do anything underhanded by contacting her husband without her knowledge. She outright denied my request. The one I sent to G. is simply still pending.

I don't understand how, nearly twelve years later (and they've been married for seven) she can still be so threatened by the connection I once had with G.

I've been known to be pretty bitter about some things that have happened in my life. But not one of them is a situation in which I was the winner. And nothing that happened over a decade ago even still makes the radar. I hope to God that I never develop that level of bitterness.

Things I'm Glad I Didn't Know at the Beginning of the Day

B. got married today.

He didn't even tell his (former) best friend, let alone me. We both found out through the grapevine today. Silly me, if the roles were reversed, I would have the common decency to fill him in ahead of time. I'm not sure why I have such expectations of him.

It's not that I still want him. If this afternoon's conversation at choir practice taught me nothing else, it taught me that.

It's not that I don't want him to be happy. Well... maybe a little right now.

It's that I don't understand how some people go from relationship to relationship with such ease, when I'm so painfully single and have been for so long. I'm a good person. I'm not bad to look at. I'd be very happy with just a boyfriend. I don't think that's asking too much.

So I'm a little bitter right now. Please excuse me while I revel in it.

Holy Geez... It's Been A While!

And I can't say that it's likely to be much more frequent now.

It dawned on me that I didn't post at all in the month of December. I kept meaning to. Not that I had anything to post about, but I at least had good intentions of posting to explain why I, uh... wasn't posting.

So I guess I'll tell you now.

I got pretty burned out by NaBloPoMo. Anyone who attempted to read my pointless drivel and cop-out placeholder posts during the month of November knows that all too clearly. Let's just say it wasn't my finest work. So I took a break for that reason.

The other reason I haven't been writing isn't a lack of things happening in my life. In fact, my life has been pretty darn full as of late. But the problem is that, most of the things that are currently occupying my thoughts are not mine to write about. I won't go into detail, but suffice it to say that I have some friends whose lives are in turmoil. And because there are people who read this blog on occasion who either know the parties involved or actually are the parties themselves, it wouldn't be right to discuss their business, even under the cloak of pseudonyms.

There were things that are my business that I could have written about, but I refrained because I was in fear of two things: I would either jinx myself, or other involved parties would somehow stumble across my blog and I would die of embarrassment. As it turns out, I don't think I have that topic to discuss any longer, so we'll just leave it at that.

Which brings us to today. I wanted to, at the very least, update my reading list. I didn't quite make it to my goal of 50 books for the year, but I don't think it was a bad showing. And I still think I should get to count Harry Potter books one through six since I re-read them all before book seven came out in July. At any rate, with any luck I'll make it to 50 this year.

So that's where things stand. I can't promise to be back any more often than I have been in the last month, but I'll do my best. Who knows? Maybe the kids at school will keep me more entertained than I expect!

Frustrating

There's someone I'd really like to hear from. It's been since Friday. I know he's currently very busy, so I understand why he hasn't had time to send me an email, but it doesn't make the waiting any more tolerable.

Two more weeks and he'll be home. He's supposed to have a lot more free time then. We'll see.

Where the Heck Have You... Oh Wait, That Was Me...

Yes, I realize I've been MIA lately. I've been swamped. And exhausted. That's it, end of excuses.

Nothing real special going on, just very busy doing my new job. And half of my old job. I love the stuff I'm doing for my new job. I just wish I had the whole day to do it. Which really seems reasonable to me, seeing as the previous person had all day to do it. I really hope things change in that direction next year.

B.'s class was in for their library time yesterday, but he had a sub. The kids told me he had to take his daughter to the doctor and then he had to go renew his driver's license because it was his birthday. I had forgotten it was his birthday. I did get a little tinge of sadness when I realized it was yet another special day we wouldn't spend together, but I also think it's a good sign that I forgot it was his birthday. I'm very good at remembering birthdays. Maybe it's another clue that I really am getting past him.

It's been a very expensive couple of weeks around the home of the beagle. First was the unexpected car repair a couple weeks ago, then the very next day I ordered my new glasses. I have vision insurance, but it doesn't cover the thinner lenses for practically blind people like me. Or at least my eye doctor's office says it doesn't. A co-worker of mine says differently, so I have to ask them to re-check my coverage when I go to pick them up. I also had to order more contacts. And then, last week, it was yearly check-up and vaccination time for Copper and Coal. I think it would be cheaper to have actual children... at least then my insurance would kick in!

Speaking of the fur children, they claim that both of them need their teeth cleaned. They've been telling me this about Coal for about three years now, but it's the first they've mentioned it on Copper. This is a pricy procedure because it's done under general anesthesia. While I will conceed that Copper's breath is NASTY, I still think teeth cleaning for pets is a bit of a scam. We had dogs and cats for years growing up that never had their teeth cleaned and it didn't seem to affect them.

And Copper has ear infections again, too. This time it's both yeast and bacteria, so I had to get new medicine to treat both (last time it was just yeast). So that was some extra cash. And she just loves being held still while I stick something in her ear twice a day, too. Damn her big cute floppy beagle ears!

And one of the kids keeps throwing up on the backroom carpet everyday while I'm gone to work (three days in a row this week). Why can't the guilty party puke on the kitchen floor? Why the carpet? Neither of them ever acts sick when I'm home, so I can't tell for sure which it is, but I think it's Copper because it's never on the living room carpet (which Coal can get to, but Copper cannot). So tomorrow I have to sequester Copper to just the kitchen and see if there's any difference.

My metabolism seems to have finally caught up with me. Ever since I went to Hawaii, it's been out of control. As in, no working out and eating whatever I want while still dropping pounds. And then I was still maintaining while I ate out several times a week and sat on the couch. But now it's started to creep back up, so it's time to start running again. I just hope that alone will do it because I really don't want to go back to counting points. I'll do it if I have to, but the last three months without it have been so nice.

How's that for a random recap?