Purge

Purge.

That is my only resolution. To get rid of the deadwood, real and imagined.

I'm a bit of a packrat, and it is time to unload the unnecessary.

The things I don't use, and the people who only use.

Purge.

Good Things, Ending, Etc.

Had a nice Christmas, hope all of you did the same.

Got some good gifts. Like this and this and this (good for bonus points to the giver) and Bon Jovi tickets (obviously the best gift ever).

And then I had to come back here to work today, but such is life. Bills to pay and so on and so forth...
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For anyone interested, I deleted the "Summer Reading" list on the sidebar (to your right) and replaced it with "Winter Reading" so you can see what kind of literary fare I am enjoying during my semester break.
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The former s-i-l got a little contempt of court in her stocking. Next to the coal, I presume.

Merry Christmas to All, and to All a Goodnight

This will be my last post until after the presents have been opened...there is a nice winter storm a'headed our way, so I will be trying to beat it to my parents' house. I work this afternoon, and then I will either be leaving tonight or tomorrow morning.

So, I hope all y'all have a nice Christmas.

I look forward to hearing about the former s-i-l's face when my brother shows up to get his kids with a little legal assistance. Note to insane parents in custody battles: "I have my own routine and I don't want you messing it up" is not a valid reason for denying the other parent all contact with his/her children. And lots of policemen have been divorced and know all about your brand of crazy. It's good to have some friends in uniform.

And So It Ends

My final fall semester is complete. My last project was accepted without revisions, and I have nothing but free time on my hands.

I'm sure I'll figure out something to do with it.

Like wrap presents, clean the house, remind the bf I exist, read fiction, do laundry, catch up on Spears sisters gossip...the possibilities! They are endless!

In Pursuit of Unhealth

Cherry Almond Cappucino (cappuccino? whatevs, I'm too lazy to check)...

Even the smell is fattening.

Totally worth it.

Finals Week

It's late this year. It should have been last week...and most of my professors agreed, actually. So I only have one (take-home) final this week, and one project to tie up.

Camping out at the library is my studying style, especially since I know to get there during the dinner hour so I can score a prime seat (comfy and near the bathroom) before the evening rush.

I always get way more done at the library than at home, and it's not like I have obnoxious roommates bothering me at home, so I'm not sure what it is. Part of it is that I don't let myself leave until particular goals are met. Another part is that I stay out of the wi-fi areas and thus all my usual distractions (internet, tv, phone, kitchen, hot bath) are eliminated. I guess I'm sure why I get more done at the library after all...
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Finished my Christmas shopping this afternoon. I also sent out cards (postcards) finally. I wasn't going to, but then I felt guilty for some reason. An earlier postcard I sent--meant to arrive during Hannukah--took about a month (maybe less) to reach its destination, so I used the post office dropbox instead of my apartment complex dropbox. Maybe the cards will make it in time, maybe the cards will arrive for Valentine's Day. Time will tell...
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I am really into the parenthetical asides in this post, eh? "Parenthetical asides" is fun to think about saying in your head, too. Cool!
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Are Lindt's Lindor White Chocolate Truffles awesome? Yes, yes they are.

I Am Not a Good Person

Rant with swearing in the extended. Don't click if bad words and evil wishes offend you.

My former sister-in-law (aka the bitch from hell, aka Skankasaurus Rex, aka SuperCunt) is currently living with the only meal ticket she can find: an abusive asshole who physically attacked my brother once and has my niece and nephew scared to death of him. The family court system being what it is, the former s-i-l still somehow has parental rights. They don't care until my niece or nephew gets hospitalized from abuse by the asshole.

Anywho...

The asshole knocked up the bitch, and she was thrilled because she has children in order to keep from having to get a job. The asshole went to jail for one of his many visits with his friends there, and the bitch found out it was twins. Suddenly she wasn't so thrilled, because twins might make her fat. Plus she can never handle one baby, let alone two. So bitch had an abortion.

Bitch told asshole she had a miscarriage. She told her other children that the babies went to heaven because they (other children) were bad.

I am sorely tempted because of recent events involving the need for police presence in order for my brother to even pick up his children, to wait until the kids are with my brother and then make a phone call.

That call would be to the violent asshole, informing him of the truth behind his babies' demise. And then I really think nature would take its course and there'd be no more bitch and no more asshole.

Fantasizing about this makes me a very bad person, and sadly (see? bad person) I will leave it at a fantasy. But the bitch deserves it. Trust me, she really deserves it. And three children--no, the entire world--would be better off.

Happy Happy

Happy Birthday, Pete!

Yeah, that's right. I remember stuff. Every other year or so.

Three Times a Hero: Iowa City Man Rescues Woman from River

UI professor saves three people from the river in three separate incidents. The latest in freezing water.

(This is my first DIGG thingie...testing it out.)

read more | digg story

Professor Refuses to Teach Me Lesson

So I had an 8 page paper due some weeks back, and I put off doing it until the last possible second and then some...printing it off about the same time class started a couple miles away.

I was up all night working on it, and I thought the beginning went fine...then I thought the end was a giant rambling insane mess when I was just trying to meet the page requirements but had nothing productive to say. Plus was sleep-deprived and insane.

So I printed my 6 pages of incoherent insanity and slipped it under the professor's door during class (I'm not big on walking into class when there are 15 minutes left). Ballsy move, that, since he well could have not gone to his office after class and subsequently counted my paper late.

But the paper was not counted late. It was not graded down due to shortness issues. And he thought the last half of the paper was the strongest part.

Huh. Yay, procrastination, then.

Glass Trees

I was forced to leave my warm and dry abode today...I had to turn in one of my finals. It turned out reasonably well, I s'pose. The bus ride was not completely horrifying in either direction, and the sidewalks are largely clear and dry.

The trees, on the other hand, look like they're made of glass. Pretty, but a little unnerving to walk under.

Now I must start on my next final, due tomorrow morning. Maximum 6 pages, so I should be reasonably okay with that. Especially since I am loading up on sugar and caffeine with my Coke Zero and Hot Tamales.
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I was able to name this buttcrack...not because I am a student of his ass, but because of the "Hawkeyes" knit hat. Total giveaway.

One of a Million

Lost power for five hours, and I must say that doing homework by candlelight rather sucks.

At least I had candles and matches and butane lighters and flashlights and blankets and a battery-operated radio and food and water and all that sort of thing.

At least my power is back and my furnace is on full-blast. Yay, MidAmerican Energy emergency crews!

A mad paper-typing frenzy shall ensue as soon as I eat something warm.

Historicicle

The U finally gave in at 11:45 and cancelled classes for the rest of the day...they never do that. Other local colleges; state, county, and city offices; and every school district in the state can be closed, but the U will stubbornly remain open. So for them to close, people must have been falling down left and right all over university property.

I wouldn't know, because I have not left my house.

See, the U refuses to cancel classes, but that just leads to profs taking matters into their own hands...all but one of my classes was cancelled already, and I opted not to risk going to that one. I'm sure it would have been fun to ride a bus attempting to climb or descend the big hill on campus, but I've had my fill of bus fun for one week.

Ice, Ice, Baby

Massive ice storm forecasted to begin tonight..."all preparations for the ice storm should be complete by midnight."

My preparations include a printing frenzy of all my finals work...I don't have a single in-class final this semester. They are all take-home finals and projects, meaning it is all on the computer. So if I lose power, I'll have major problems getting to my work.

My preparations are complete with a half-hour to spare. Let's just hope I don't lose power, though, because it's fricking cold up in this bitch.

Singletons

Dear world and especially MSN.com today:

Being single at holiday time is not the worst thing to ever happen to a person. In fact, there are benefits.

1. Save money by not having to buy present(s) for a significant other. Or their parents.

2. No angst over whether or not particular present(s) are appropriate to your relationship's commitment level (after figuring out if you and your sig-other agree on your relationship's commitment level).

3. No problem figuring out which house hosts Christmas.

4. No navigation of (potential) in-laws and their unique family traditions and menus.

5. You are able to get in and out of the crowded stores without waiting for anyone else to get their shopping done.

6. You get to put as many nuts as you want in your chocolate chip cookies.

I am 33 and unmarried, and somehow I will manage not to slit my wrists on Christmas Eve...no matter how sad other people (MSN.com) seem to think I should be. I don't need to fight off the blues, I don't need to lurk around bookstores to find a hookup, and I don't need to check my love horoscope to see if I'll find true love in 2008. Singleness is not a dreadful disease to be avoided at all costs. I am an actual whole person who functions on a daily basis whether or not I have a husband or boyfriend. Get a grip.

Love,

Me

Oven of Suck

So, we're having a Christmas party potluck for work tonight, and we all had to sign up to bring whatever. I chose a dessert, which will be cookies. I made both chocolate chip cookies and sugar cookies. The chocolate chip cookies went okay, but by the time I got to the sugar cookies, my oven developed severe temperature modulation issues. The recipe called for baking 10-12 minutes, but one batch was burnt by 7 minutes. Finally I ended up turning the oven off altogether, then turning it back on at a lower temperature and checking the cookies every minute for doneness. Ridiculous.

Oh, and I was lazy*, so my sugar cookies are not trees and stars and santas. They are circles. And I will give you my secret for relatively mess-free sprinkle cookies...roll your dough into little balls, keeping the ones you aren't baking in the refrigerator until they are ready to bake. Put sprinkles in a container (a paper plate works well), then take your little dough ball and squish the "top" into the sprinkles. Transfer to your cookie sheet. The sprinkles stay embedded on the cookie and don't go all over the place like they would if you poured the sprinkles onto the top of the cookie on the sheet. Plus excess sprinkles stay on the plate or other container.

* Actually, I was just super-pissed off after all my shapes got burnt in the beginning, and figured if I'm burning sh*t, it should be low-maintenance sh*t.

Sans Relevance

So I have an extra person to buy a Christmas present for this year, as my sister has gotten engaged. As you may or may not have noticed, I work in a place that sells merchandise for my university. Which means everyone in my family has gotten tees, sweats, and the like with my U's name on it for the last couple years. I'm all about convenience to myself. Plus I can grab the good sale stuff.

The following convos occured between my mother and myself:

Me: What size shirt do you think [the fiance] wears? XL?

Mom: I don't know. Maybe a large? He's not that big.

Me: Okay.

(Day passes.)

Me: I hope he wears a large, because I bought him a $15 hooded sweatshirt we had on special. The XL looked too big.

Mom: Sounds good. Is he a [my university] fan?

Me: Who cares? Everyone gets [my university] crap, you know that.

Convenient and cheap. The perfect gift for someone I'm not related to yet. Duh.

The Weather Outside is Frightful

It's snowing, which looks pretty and peaceful. And then you get on a bus and fish-tail and slide down a hill in it, followed by a turn that becomes too wide because of the sliding/ineffective brakes action...and just in general you're lucky you made it home without injury.

I think I'll stay in for the rest of the night. Have to watch Law & Order: Criminal Intent anyway...
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Have you wondered what it would be like if men's appearances were subjected to the same scutiny as women's? Wonder no more.

Feeling It, Not Believing It

I like Christmas--buying and wrapping the presents, making cookies, the old claymation tv specials, and the music.

I love singing Christmas songs, especially the more religious/inspirational ones like Silent Night and O Come All Ye Faithful and The Little Drummer Boy. I sing O Holy Night pretty much year-round (to myself, of course).

The thing is, I love singing songs like that--I sing The Battle Hymn of the Republic and Amazing Grace all the time. I was in the church choir in my younger days when my parents actually belonged to a church.

But even back in the day, I didn't actually believe in the words of those songs. I can see why true believers would be inspired and uplifted by hymns and carols, but my enjoyment has always been mostly aesthetic.

Much as my enjoyment of Christmas as a whole is aesthetic rather than spiritual. I'm afraid I'm just a pagan at heart.

Winter Storm Update

After chipping away at my car's windows, I ice-skated into work today. The melody of emergency vehicles playing in the distance has been pretty much constant since about 9:30.

I have a bet going with a co-worker at a different (busier) location that I will not see a soul today. I'm gonna win a dollar!

Will I be able to get back into my car at the end of the day, or will it be frozen solid? Outlook grim.

UPDATE: Excellent, the Des Moines "International" Airport closed after a plane slid off a taxiway. We're national news now, you betcha.

UPDATE 2: Ice/snow chunks are now falling from the building I work in. Will I be decapitated when I leave tonight? Stay tuned...

UPDATE 3: Home now. Won dollar=yes. Decapitation=no. Frozen car=yes. Luckily I have 4 doors, as the front two did not care to open. Opened back, slammed back, opened front next to back (passenger side), started car, set defrost, got scraper, scraped, managed with effort to open driver's door, drove away. Ta da! There are about two inches of frozen gunk on the ground. I walked on top of it, leaving no footprints, but when drove over it seemed slush-ish underneath.