This morning the husband and I got up early to head to his sister's place to celebrate Christmas early. He was out earlier with the dog and noted that it was icy. We left plenty early, knowing that we would have to drive carefully.

As we drove down the street out apartment is just off of, the husband was indeed driving very carefully. Curves one and two were not so much a problem. It was the third one (it always is... third whatever- deer, curve, left...) that caused trouble. The road went to the right, and the car refused.

Honest, it just wouldn't go that way. We traveled in slow motion. The husband actually had time to warn me that we were going to hit the tree. The ABS brakes didn't kick on, the tires would not really turn. Mojo (my car) had had enough of this world and insisted on crashing into a tree.

We are not hurt. Seems like a good thing to mention. We sat there for a moment, and then got out to check the car. To go back, about a year (plus) ago my front bumper was hit in a parking lot while I was in the store. Because it was so cold out my car's bumper didn't dent in- it cracked. We have never gotten this fixed because it's purely cosmetic and not worth $500 to me.

So I see the major damage to the front end and the first thing I manage to do is quip that maybe now I'll get that new bumper. Husband chuckles, briefly, he was still in shock from Mojo's abrupt behavior. We walked around the car for a bit, and then got back in to figure out what next (see again- in shock). Calling people seemed good, starting with our insurance agent. He of course was not in his office, as it was Sunday morning. The call did not forward to the main call center either.

Oh, and during this time we had two people stop to see if we were okay, and the guy who owned the tree came out to check on us. He said that not an hour ago there was a two car collision not 50 feet up that same stretch of road. He also mentioned that this particular tree (fairly young too) had already been hit three times since he put it there. I'm thinking he might want to take the hint and move it...

I ended up walking home to get the phone number for the insurance so we could call them, the township police, and the tow company. I had just finished getting all this, when the husband called to let me know that the police and tow truck were there. The police happened by, and she called the tow company. At this point there was no reason for me to wander back to the scene of the car's suicide and waited for the husband to come back.

See, a deer decided to kill itself on my car about 5 years ago- hitting the front passenger side. At that point it was worth it to repair. Now that a tree had taken out the front driver's side, we're pretty sure they're just going to want to total it out. It is a 1999 Olds Alero with a previous front-end accident. It's likely going to cost more to repair than the car is worth. So yeah. Bubye Mojo. I've had the thing since 2001- I'm really going to miss it.

In order to cheer ourselves up, since we weren't going to be going to Hubby's sisters and thus no presents, we decided to go to lunch and then car shop. :) Afterall, if we're going to have to replace the car we need to know what's available. It was kinda fun, saw some cars that might work. Went to a dealership and was frightened by the circling salesmen. Though that place was good in that I got to sit in an car I wanted to see if I wanted to go to stage 2 (test driving). I didn't take any out today, we still don't really know what's going to happen. The roads had cleared up a lot though... of course.

All in all, it's been an interesting day. Not good really, but interesting. Car shopping wasn't precisely on our list of things to do... not to mention paying for a new (new-used) car. But we'll manage it somehow.

(ETA- oh yeah, and the airbags didn't even deploy...)

Hope you all had much better of a Sunday than I did.

But damn, people whining about the "un-Christmassy" free holiday songs on Amazon are pissing me the hell off. They are all het up and full of complaints for The Boxmasters' "Slower Than Christmas" (which is pretty damn funny) and a Christmas song by Lady Gaga

So today there's a more "traditional" holiday song, and stupid me, I have to read the comments. Whereupon I see this:

Christmas is the day we celebrate Christ's birth and this song reflects the true meaning of Christmas. The drum accompaniment to the song gives it a youthful appeal and spices it up a little. It's so much better than some of the selections this month that have had absolutely nothing to do with the celebration of Christ's birth. I also liked the harmony in this song. I hope you all like this song!

Amazon: it's ok to be edgey, but not tasteless. Remember when Charlie Brown screams can anyone tell me what Christmas is about? Linus takes his thumb out of his mouth and tells him. That story is not boring, but incredibly exciting! The God who made the universe came down to us. That's better than any modern day sci fi flick. Some folks have taken the Christ out of Christmas and put in Santa and Rudolph. Those songs are fun too, but songs like Lady Gagas and the boxmasters are so anti-holiday and anti-Christmas that people are offended by them. Please tomorrow have something holidayish to download! Thanks.

I'm going to hell (well, I would if I believed in that sort of thing), so I had to respond to this:

I am not a Christian, but I celebrate Christmas exactly the way I was raised to. I have a tree, and stockings, and I buy gifts for my loved ones. I sing holiday songs and watch holiday movies and TV specials.

My Christmas has nothing to do with the alleged birth of some baby in a stable, and I really resent this attitude interfering with the way I celebrate my holiday.

I know it's not much in the grand scheme of life, but it made me feel better.

Didn't happen. Really.

Last night there was a glorious revival service in praise of the Porcelain God. It was a moving event. I was a most devout worshipper, were there awards given I certainly would have been given one. Sasha tried earlier in the evening to participate, but her lame hairball offering wasn't anywhere near the Porcelain God. Even though I was the PG's favorite last night I still had to clean up after her.

So yeah, didn't get much sleep last night. On the one hand it was good that I didn't have to work today. On the other I hate being sick on my day off...

This leads me to explain the appropriate set up for the sick. *grins* First you need a comfy recliner, because if you're like me and get horribly congested the whole idea of lying flat on your back is a bad one. So you have the chair. Next you need a box of tissue, for the nose that can't decide if it's a leaky faucet or a blocked one. To go along there's the wastebasket for the used tissue. I would like to recommend a plastic one, as if it needs to do 'double duty' plastic is easier to clean... Now, while you feel hot and then cold, clothing is difficult. I cannot strongly enough recommend socks, comfy pants and a t-shirt. Oh, and several blankets. Now while in a hot phase the clothing may seem excessive, but during that time just move blankets. Keep the socks on. Because you may be lucky enough to fall asleep, and when you wake up you may find yourself cold. If you've taken off your socks it's a pain to put them back on, ad requires more movement than may be possible. However, a blanket slightly draped to the side can be more easily moved. So keep the socks on and just move blankets as needed.

Now, Nyquil. Nyquil is good stuff. As hubby says, most medications come with warnings about combining it with alcohol. Nyquil puts it all in one handy container for you. Nice huh? For the Drug-Naive, it may be best to take the Nyquil wherever it is you plan to pass out. Just makes things easier. However, if you are more medicinally experienced, like yours truly, you may have 5-10 minutes before the Nyquil knocks you on your ass. Giving you time to move from wherever it is you've taken it, to the comfy chair. Passing out on the bathroom floor really isn't good for the ill. Though if the praise service is still going strong, location is important and you may want to attempt to make the bathroom 'comfy' not as easy as it sounds.

I came up with much of this post this morning, and I assure you, it was much funnier in my head. I probably should have posted it when I thought of it, but there was Nyquil and sleeping to be done. Besides, I'm not sure I could have actually typed all this in the morning.

For the record, I'm mostly feeling better. A good night's sleep should finish off the recovery. I hope, 'cause I really shouldn't miss work tomorrow.

Just got home from my work's Christmas Party, this after having had the NaNo TGIO party. Given the day I had Friday, I wasn't exactly looking forward to the work party.

First though- the NaNo party, was fun. There were a few people there that I hadn't talked to before, which was cool. Also there seems to be more interest in continuing to have a writing group, as well as more critique and less social club. Though the meeting and gabbing has been a LOT of fun, I would like to get more constructive writing stuff done.


The work party was more fun than I thought it would be. Mrs. Boss hired a murder mystery couple to come in and lead us. The hubby was cast as an actor who was pretending to be a doctor (the bit about him not being a doctor wasn't known to even him right away). His first few goals were to write as many prescriptions as possible, and second to flirt with all the women. He did a really good job with his character, and got their actor of the night award. I was cast as the assistant to the murder victim's son, former assistant to the murder victim as well. I was of course in love with my boss. My character's goals were fun, and I managed to accomplish all of them. At one point I was supposed to try to get three people to sign my petition to get my boss listed as on of People's 50 Sexiest People. I succeeded in getting four to sign. *laughs* And in the end I was pretty convinced I was the murderer. And I was right! A few people thought I was the killer, but not strongly enough to write it on their sheet. Sadly, I let my group go with the majority view and we listed someone else too. A well. It turned out to be a lot of fun.

One of the guys at our table was a klepto, and he was actually stealing my hubby's silverware. Even going so far as to ask the wait staff to bring him some more- just so he could eat. He was going around the room and no one noticed him taking silverware from various people- he amassed quite the collection! We later found out the wait staff were talking about him, and rather confused as to what he was doing...

So while I was dreading this party, it came off pretty well. Though if we hadn't had roles to play, it may have been different. Oh, and per usual I was in charge of getting the bosses' present, and since many of the guys aren't in the office at the same time I was- I had to buy the present in advance and then hope they got me their portion. Wonder of wonders, by the end of the night I had everybody's contribution! I was stunned.

All in all a pretty good day. Which wasn't what I was expecting...

I have lots of cute animal xmas cards and am feeling in good cheer!!

PM me your address if you want one ^O^

My NaNo novel this year focused on three girls heading to Ann Arbor- two for college, and one to escape her family. Although, the Ann Arbor in the book is actually much more like the Ann Arbor I knew in 1993-5. I still miss the NAC...

Anywho. The girls are: Avery- witch/magic user/wizard, Emelyn- Kitsune (the research I did showed many different types of legends regarding the Kitsune, several contradicting others. So I borrowed some and decided that the Kitsune made up the rest to confuse people.), and Katie- Demon bait (she's the one trying to escape her family).

( and now, a snippet, just because )

Kitty!!!

It's just kind of an out of sorts day over here. I don't particularly know why, but I'm likely to be a bit grumpy in my response to things, so I'm trying to make my fingers behave. ;)


Thanksgiving was good, if odd. We went to the hubby's folks place, and it was just the two of them, hubby's step-brother, and us. Considering that when I was kid and Turkey Day usually meant something like 20 people? Five just seems, well weird. They're lovely people though, so it was a nice day, and the food was great! I learned that I actually do like cranberry (jam/relish/jelly there was some debate later about what it was that I ate and liked...). We did get to see hubby's step-bro's new house, which was cool as it actually has a sort of decorating scheme to it. The step-bro will surprise you.

Friday I avoided the shopping. Hubby had to work, his second shift on days. It's still really new, but so far I am loving the change! It's great to know that he'll be home every night now. Also, on my days off I don't have to worry about waking him up while I go about my day. I could even *gasp* clean/vacuum if I want! Hey, the urge might hit, you never know. ;) Not to mention the regular sleep schedule working wonders on mood. Is good.

Saturday we went up to see my folks. The plan originally was for my brother and his family to be there. It didn't happen. :( They had an elsewhere to be, understandable, but still, I wanted to see my niece and nephew! Instead I ended up going through some of my boxes in the basement (for some reason my mom wants to declutter it as much as she can).* Whoo boy. Talk about a meander down memory lane! I did help get rid of some things, and I brought two small boxes home with me. Among the stuff were a bunch of letters from when I was in high school. High school me was a very silly person. There was some good stuff in those letters though, and they will all be kept. Because I'm like that. *laughs*

Future stuff and the past are all kind of colliding around in my mind. This is, of course, good and bad. I'm having a bit of trouble with the fact that in a month and a bit I'll be turning 35. It's bugging me, much more so than 30 did. It makes hubby laugh and tell me that I'm still his beautiful young bride. On some levels that helps, but on others... well I'm not exactly where I thought I would be, or want to be in some cases (job). This just means that I've got to get some things figured out so I know what steps to take. (Could I be more vague?)

All of this then bumps into the writing (especially as NaNo just ended) and did you know that doubts flourish in this kind of an environment? Honest. Even the blackest thumb could grow a lovely crop of doubts. Although trying to get rid of them... that's a whole other matter. Ignoring them can work. Just plowing through can work, though sometimes they cling and build up around the wheel wells. (and has my metaphor completely lost coherency?)

A line from a Nicole Atkins song keeps popping up and trying to distract me: 'Course I'll be all right, I just had a bad night.

Yeah, 'course I'll be all right. :)




* Okay, this basement? Is amazing... At one point when I was moving a box my mom asked "Is that a sled?" pointing to a collection of 2x4s. Sure enough, there was a metal runnered wooden sled mixed in. My dad has stuff down there that he's totally forgotten about- tools, collections of nails, screws, you name it. I think what it really needs is a parental vacation, a rented dumpster, high powered allergy pills, and some sibling power to go through it all. Ya, that would be good.

Goings-on in 140 characters or less...

• 12:24 I'm enjoying that my "arranged" rotations, abbreviated ARR on UBLearns, remind me of Pirate Speak. ARR!! #

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After having known my Nan my entire life, here is what I have left of her:


Some photographs. I stole them when Pop died last year. I knew I probably wouldn't have another chance, and she was so beautiful.

Some mugs with faces on them.

A painting she did of three Tahitian girls. We used to paint together. The smell of turpentine makes me cry with the memory now.

An alabaster jewelry box. It says alabaster on the label, but it's a pale purple. Like stone lilac blossoms.

A gold-and-garnet ring that she gave to me for my eighteenth birthday. I'm wearing it now. When I was little, one of the garnets fell out and I found it in the bag of the vacuum cleaner. She remembered.

Some white china plates with a blue design on them. I commented once about how much they made her kitchen look like home.

Glass balls in a net; the kind used to float fishermen's nets. I remember being a child, never being allowed to touch them, sneaking my fingers between the netting to feel the cold, round balls. Nan used to remove them to wash the netting and I'd look at them, thinking about how they held the breath of the glassblowers who made them. I wish I'd talked to her about that... maybe I did, and that's why she willed them to me. If that's the case, I wish I remembered the conversation.

Her collection of blue and brown glass bottles. I will put them in my kitchen, to catch the light and throw it on my food. Blue glass in particular is supposed to have healing properties.

Three of her Royal Doulton figurines. It kills me that her collection, passed to her from her own mother, has now been split up among five daughters and one granddaughter - me. Her Doultons were like a family, and now they've been torn apart. Maybe for Christmas I can ask for a display case to keep my three Doultons safe.

A wolf painting that I did, around the same time as the Tahitian girls, in our afternoons painting together. I was so upset one morning when I came downstairs to find her in the dining room (which we had taken over as a studio) "fixing" my painting. The photograph I was using as a reference put the sleeping wolf in a bare and desolate place. I transformed it into a glade, with shafts of light and flowers. Nan painted it over, to turn it back into the tundra wastes of the photograph. I was livid. I don't want to remember feeling that way about our time together, so I told my Mom she could have the painting for her bare walls.

A marmalade jar. I'll use it for my lavender jelly, probably, because I'm the only one who likes it and that way I'll be the only one to use it.

The porthole-mirror. An old porthole from a ship, fitted with a mirror. I didn't even realize how much I wanted it until my Mom told me she'd left it for me. It made me feel like I was on an adventure as long as I never looked at its reflection. If I did, I'd see myself playing, and the illusion would be lost.

A small bedside table. I don't know which one she means, but in any case, I can always use a table. I just hope it survives life in my apartment.

Her "Daisy Dog"... I could be mistaken, but I think that's the doll I gave her when she was in the hospital this summer. She missed her dog, Voodoo. We had gone for a stroll through the hospital and we'd ended up in the gift shop. She saw the dog-doll and fell in love with it, stroking it and cooing gently. I waited until the next day, and bought it for her on the way up to see her.

A painting, described in the will as "Bedroom painting - Black Thing"... nobody knows what it is. I hope they can figure it out. Or not. It's difficult to know how much I want something when I don't know what it is.

A teddy-bear given to my brother and me by the OPP after my Mom crashed the car with us in it. The car had flipped three times in the air and landed upside-down. I think she was trying to kill herself, and to take us with her. Years later I told my Nan what had really happened, that Mom hadn't fallen asleep, she'd been playing a "game" with my brother and me where she waited till the very last moment to turn the car on a slippery gravel country road. Then she turned too late, and we crashed. Nan kept the OPP bear to keep my brother and me from fighting over it. Now it's mine, by virtue of memory.

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Did everyone have a nice Thanksgiving?