my sad lunch.

i should never be allowed to multi-task when there are flames involved.



but i had enough cheese for ONE redo. my tummy is happy.

this was tough.

for bram's birthday i wanted to be able to watch When Harry Met Sally. i wasn't able to on tuesday b/c between work and life in general, i didn't have enough time to just... melt down. so i'm watching it today. and for a while i've been wanting to compile clips of this movie -- clips that really reminded me of bram. then i found that to be impossible... choosing just one or five or ten?

then i saw this scene. and it reminded me of a time bram that called me because i was going through a rough time -- just about 2 years ago. i found myself saying exactly one of sally's lines simply because of the situation that i was in and there was bram, picking up the very next line and we bantered the movie dialogue back and forth, just like the old days. my sobbing sort of merged into laughing. i can't even count the number of times in my life where bram was able to do that for me.

mabel loves her hat from mexico.

even though she looks angry, she LOVES the sombrero from meaghan and chris!

wednesday is the new saturday.

my work schedule is from saturday night through tuesday afternoon, so that makes wednesday -- today -- my saturday. so what have i done thus far on my saturday? i've cleaned the living room and done the dishes. i've blown my nose a gazillion times and played some electronic yahtzee.

i am putting off a task... this task is one that i HATE. it's easy, but i HATE it. i HATE putting away clean clothes after they've been laundered. in my bedroom i have FOUR, that's right, FOUR loads of clean clothes that need to find their way onto hangers and into drawers. but can i force myself to do it? hmm. not as of yet. i feel like i've already done so much around the house...now this??? shite.

okay, MAAAAAYBE i'm overreacting. i should just man-up, put on a movie and deal with laundry. and THEN i can reward myself with a nap. and more electronic yahtzee. and a nap.

we're also looking for a cheap-ass car to purchase. with dustin's new job and his schedule being much different from mine, we're finding that functioning with one and only one car is tricky. anyone want to get ride of a car on the cheap?

i love our christmas tree. i'm not big into holidays, but there is something completely soothing about a tree lit up at night. with no other lights on, it just feels like... home. does that make sense?

isn't that nice? plus it reflects off my floor in a manner that suggests i clean on a regular basis. sparkling clean, no? (in the dark, you can't see the dog hair as easily.)

okay, fine, FINE. stop hasseling me. i'll go put away laundry now. right NOW. i mean it. as soon as i grab a glass of soda, i'll be all over laundry-putting-away. you happy now? are ya?

instead of laundry and cleaning, i'm doing this...

i also think it's cool that on today, bram's birthday, the baby was moving most when Jude was playing.

happy birthday to my friend bram.

today's is bram's birthday. and i'm trying really hard not to think too much about it until after i get home from work, lest i should start sobbing uncontrollably and not be able to stop.

bram and i were never good at remembering each other's birthdays. it was usually one of those things that we'd mention after the fact, that was just our way. and now i can't stop thinking about it. and i'm trying really hard not to be sad about it, and just try to be happy that someone as fantastic as bram even existed on this earth.

happy birthday to one of my best friends ever. i miss you.

turkey day and after...

sarah and andy were our lovely hosts for turkey day... yes, we are parasites.

andy gets appetizers ready...

the picture of sophistication!!!



we hung our stockings... (abbey's is the cool one in the middle) ... we don't have a fireplace, so our big tv will have to be a substitute.

and today we got a big-ass tree for FREE off of craigslist...love it.

here it tis, all lit and pretty.



abbey did a little karaoke... (note the song is "super freak")



dustin's story of christmas:

what's scarier than a clown, but really hilarious to watch?

that would be the NATIONAL DOG SHOW that is on tv in a little over an hour. SERIOUSLY. i'm all over that.

what's scarier than a clown?

a marching band of NOTHING BUT CLOWNS. i'm pretty sure i had a nightmare like this once.

on the note of nightmares, i feel a cold sore coming on -- a downside of having an immune system dampened by pregnancy. and, as earlier mentioned, there is ONE store open. Walgreen's. and my usual $11 miracle cold sore cure is $20 there. which i'm just not willing to pay. so here it sit, my lip itchier than ... than.... something that is really itchy. see how itchy it is? i've lost my ability to make comparisons.

just saw a neighbor come home and unload some groceries... one thing she unloaded was a case of shitty beer. an OPEN case of shitty beer. and i'm fairly certain she was stumbling. WOW.

now i need to find some sandpaper to rub off my mouth. yes, it's that itchy. i am in hell.

my notes from the macy's parade...

i had to leave the house briefly to pick up a few things from the one store that is open today -- Walgreen's -- and SADLY i think i missed the performance from (and i can't believe this was an actual sentence the announcer spoke) the "hit musical 'Xanadu.'"

however, before leaving i did see a bit of the musical "legally blonde," whose star had dark roots, and a bit of "young frankenstein," which actually looked enjoyable. the big question... have i missed the stars from High School Musical? have i missed Menudo? we shall see...

regarding "black friday"... i don't usually take part in the 6 a.m. chaos, HOWEVER there are a few items the kiddo wants for christmas that are on super-duper sale tomorrow, so i think i'll brave the crowds around 8:30 a.m. during the 2-day sale at target. and if they run out of those items before i get there, i will make them pay.

okay, parade... Sesame Street cast is on now... who's still there from the humans? holy crap.. BOB? BOB is still around? and what is that lady's name... crap... SUSAN, that's her name.

now it's the jonas brothers. they are on the build-a-bear float. i think if they ever hoped to earn any street cred, that opportunity is now gone forever.

still to come.. wynonna judd. hmm. maybe it's time for that mid-morning nap.

final parade note: host meredith viera said, upon the arrival of Barbie's float, "Barbie has been inspiring girls all over to be whatever they want to be..." i guess that includes tall with a body that is not correct in it's proportions. well done, barbie, well done.

wait... THIS is the final note... MENUDO is still to come! eek!

it's turkey day....

and there is actually snow on the ground -- not a lot, but a light dusting is always nice to see. pregnancy is wreaking havoc on my body, sadly --- i'm suffering from the heartbreak of psoriasis, probably b/c a couple weeks ago i said "i've not had psoriasis since i was a smoker." that's how it gets you.

we'll be eating this afternoon at a friend's house, but for now, it's parade time.

the townhouse for terry!

Universal vs. YouTube and MySpace takes its first casualty: Nine Inch Nails

Trent Reznor describes how Universal's desperate, potentially devastating lawsuit against YouTube and MySpace has prevented him from launching an innovative new website: "We are challenged at the last second to find a way of bringing this idea to life without getting splashed by the urine as these media companies piss all over each other’s feet."

read more | digg story

maybe it's just a primus day...

song o' the day... awww hell, o' the week!

the crunchy bass of primus... sighhhh...

and what a shock this would be....

yeah, b/c we didn't see this coming from the white house....

what in the world....?

oh, that's a fetus i feel moving around! (this is the part where a pregnant lady feels like a pod for an alien. i'm merely a host...)

why i like pregnancy, part 1

pregnancy means being able to crave this for breakfast ...



and not having to apologize for it. from left you'll see a small slim jim snack, a package of grandma's limited edition iced lemon cookies, and 1/2 cucumber. i just ate the slim jim (my dog is now losing her shit trying to find the wrapper for it). i am currently cleansing the ol' palate with the cucumber, and i will finish with one of the cookies, saving the second cookie for after lunch. i'll wash down this snack with a glass of orange juice and will then watch x files until i fall asleep.

yesterday was laundry/mopping the floor/doing dishes day. this is my sunday, as i start my work week tomorrow afternoon. this is my day of rest. what would jesus do, you ask? if given the option, he'd eat a slim jim (a kosher one, of course).

CONGRATS TO DUSTIN!!!

my wonderful husband just got offered a great job! yay!

it's been one month and it still hasn't sunk in. i miss you, my friend.

our cat, little brother.

or, just brother, as we usually call him now. i think he's a little bit in love with me.

the search for a name continues on...

this week my favorite names are Henry and Lucy. the middle name, no matter which sex, will be bram. we'll have the ultrasound on dec. 12, and that'll be when we find out if it's a boy or a girl. wheeee!

congrats to my beautiful sister and her wonderful husband!

meaghan and her husband, chris. congrats, you crazy kids!

abbey and her auntie before the ceremony.

this is pretty boss.

and yes, this is the actual dustin/kari baby heartbeat.

*updated from joe mammy:
"if it starts to sound like 'Down in it' seek medical attention right away…"

update on the cranky

still a bit pissy today, even after getting more sleep. have used up the last of the legitimate kleenex due to my chronically runny/stuffy nose (side effect of pregnancy) and will now be forced to use toilet paper, unless i can get my carcass off the couch, into the car and to the store. we'll see.

used some of my pissy energy to clean the living room -- it's nice, but now i realize that i need a rug. a nice medium sized rug that will tie the room together. perhaps a trip to ikea is in order?

my dog refuses to sit other than on the couch if there is even an inch of free space. i've heard that placing mousetraps underneath newspaper will scare the dog off from using the couch. and i also am not here 24/7, so it's tough to instill in her the need for her to use a different place. ugh. beagles=difficult to train, more difficult to break bad habits.

i see a man across the street who is mowing his leaf-covered lawn while smoking. smoking in fall is nice. i know smoking is a bad habit and it took me forever and a day to quit, but still... if they can put people in space, couldn't they make healthy cigarettes???

maybe another nap is in order. growing a person can really take it out of you.

bleh.

woke up in a bad mood. no real reason, no bad dreams or anything, just cranky. feel like driving and driving and driving. and then when i get there, eating a cheeseburger happy meal. then driving some more. feh. i'm anxiously awaiting this bad mood to turn into a bad mood with energy so that if i'm cranky, at least i'll get some cleaning done.

i should be in a good mood on account of the tori amos show i get to see tonight from EIGHTH ROW (thanks, jodi!), but for right this second, at 5:47 a.m., i'm just cranky. maybe i just need more sleep, but now i'm too cranky to sleep. sighhhhh... missing the days of nyquil and a straw.

blah.

song o' the day...

"Landslide" covered by Smashing Pumpkins. it's just lovely.

i waited too long to eat.

so with this whole pregnancy thing i'm learning fast that, the MOMENT i feel hungry, i need to eat. right. that. second. and i have about a five-minute window in which to arrange food.

what happens if i don't do this? well, my blood sugar PLUMMETS and i get nauseaus as hell and then when food appears, i eat but then i feel like throwing up for the next half hour... at least.

and why, if i know this fact, did i wait longer than five minutes after i realized i was hungry? because i'm just stupid. clearly that is the only explanation.

i've not really gained much weight -- maybe a pound or so -- thus far. i have, however, watched my weight reassign itself... SHIFT, if you will ... down to my abdomen. and, being a "girl of larger proportions" to begin with, i really only need to gain 15 pounds or so. and at least half of that will ultimately be baby.

when my mom was pregnant with me, i was three weeks past my due date. seriously. due date of april 21, birth date of may 9. after having been in the proverbial oven for that long, i was birthed out at a hefty ELEVEN pounds. 11. that's a BIG BABY. this is the fear that urged me to induce abbey a few days before her actual due date and she was still 8 pounds even. SO i may give birth to a giant. i'm just sayin'.

ready for sleep. i forgot to turn the clocks back last night -- which is sad, b/c it's my favorite time to be able to get an extra hour of sleep. this morning i had to pick up my madre from the train station at 7 a.m. AND what do you think happened?

that's right...i arrived to a train station that was still closed -- which, if you've ever been to a train station, you know that they are rarely closed. i looked around, there were other people in their cars, awaiting the opening of the doors. i waited in my car, wondering what in the hell was going on. finally i walked up to the doors and looked inside to see an employee changing the clocks back one hour. i stared and then...

"OH FUCK."

i had NOT arrived at 7, but at 6. SIX. one full hour before i need to be there. which means that i left my house BEFORE SIX. roughly 5:45 a.m.

and it's not like in minot where, if you get to the station and you are early, you can jaunt back home in five, maybe ten minutes, and go back to sleep for another 45 minutes. NO. here it would have taken me a good 20 minutes to get back home and by then i'd just have to leave again.

long (and horribly boring) story short: i'm tired. i woke up REALLY EARLY and think it's time for bedfordshire. plus my dog is whining and irritating me, so it's a good time, i think, to bow out and hide in the bedroom with the crossword puzzle book.

[it's been three weeks, bram... i'm still in disbelief.]

The Real Me.

props to jason wood for this goodie!

i haven't watched the whole thing...

it's pretty lengthy, but just check out the opening credits.

my recent viewing pleasure...

"Wrong Turn 2 .... exactly the premise you expect (and really it's not so much a "wrong turn" as "really poor decision to be in that particular location.") HOWEVER it stars HENRY FREAKING ROLLINS and he kicks such ass.

FIDO ... love it. a zombie movie with heart, folks. (literally and figuratively speaking, of course.)

favorite phrase of the day

"i was raised in a wolf's den of intense, unbridled sarcasm."

thanks for that, jege!

why i want to learn how to cross stitch.

THIS IS WHY.

first of all...

... how in the hell does a nickelback song even get into my head in the middle of the night, let alone be stuck in there enough taunt me when i wake up?

secondly, i have photos.

dixie hides her head under pillows to sleep. she's awesome that way.

here's the big-ass caged beast at the Trail of Terror -- there's a strobe light going on, so the picture didn't work so well... but you get the idea. i'm pretty sure that is what dick cheney looks like on the inside.

the real horror at the Trail of Terror? having to use the porta-potties, like sarah did.

my lil' own sith lord, Abbey Vadar. (notice the toes sticking out from her pants. adorable).

and because my kid is such an AWESOME SITH LORD, she got a fantastic halloween candy haul. seriously, LOOK AT THAT! momma's so proud... (and hungry...)

i don't even know what the hell this is, but i like how you can really see the belly.