7/25/2005

Funk

Category: Not So Rosey. Posted by Lucky at 4:16 pm.

There is no denying it. I am in a funk.

It’s. Bad.

Nothing seems to cheer me for more than a moment. Granted, I’ve had a rough couple of weeks; what with the Business Trip from HELL, a death in the family, a falling out with my Dad and just general Bleh. But still. I’ve had several things to ‘blog home about’, but I cannot find the motivation or inspiration to do so.

That pretty much describes me in general, now that I think about it. No motivation. No inspiration. Nada.

I feel useless, lethargic, pointless, senseless and generally….like poo. I feel sorry for Dan, the kids and my friends. I’m a walking time bomb.

Bleh.

Dan has been wonderful, taking on extra “chores” and the general slack I seem to be creating. I just can’t seem to do anything right….let alone at all. This of course makes me feel even more guilty, leading to an even deeper spiral of misery and hopelessness. I cannot recall the last meal I cooked (on my own) or the last thing I accomplished off of my mile long “to-do” list.

Bleh.

It seems I can find more to hate, then I can things that bring me joy. Granted, there ARE a few sparse things. Claire being the largest one right now. Even that comes riddled with guilt and a sense of failure. She’s growing before my eyes….faster than I care to admit. There doesn’t seem to be enough hours to relish her accomplishments or to get sloppy baby kisses. She’s walking now (albeit, like Frankenstein) and babbling up a storm. Its hard to believe that in just about a week, she will complete her first trip around the sun. I’ve done nothing in the way of plans for a celebration, and can’t seem to find the inspiration to do so…as it seems everything I would want to do is near impossible as we don’t have the cash flow nor the room to entertain easily. My Mother is coming up to see us that weekend from Southern California, and we are going to do “something”, I just have no clue what. I know…Claire is not going to remember or care, one way or the other. But I do. She is my last, my baby…my ‘Bug’, and I want so much to create a memory that we all will cherish.

Bleh.

Then there is the other two. Is it time for school to start yet? I swear we spend more time hollerin’ at them to leave each other alone, to stop fighting, to get their chores done, and a variety of other “typical kid” traits, that by the end of the day, 9pm cannot come soon enough. I hate that we’ve not been able to do anything “fun” with them this summer. They’ve been cooped up in the apartment for the most part, as Dan and I work our butts off to barely scrape by. Haley is going to put me in an early grave. That’s all I can say. That girl has the map to my buttons memorized, and takes no greater joy then to push them ALL when I least need her too. It seems that ever since we “gave her, her own room”, she’s just gotten more snotty and painful to deal with. Dan actually threatened to move TJ back in with her if she didn’t knock it off. I mean, just because you have your own room does NOT mean that you are an adult, and therefore able to rule your own universe. * mumble *

Bleh.

Work is ok. I’m buried. But then again, I’ve been that for awhile, and now - with the Compaq/HP merger starting to have a major impact on my department - I don’t see that coming to an end anytime soon. The business trip was a joke as regards the travel and accommodations end of things. Between tiny ass airplane seats, rushing between connecting flights, sold out airline food, late arrivals, rental car nightmares, dirty hotel rooms, ongoing fire alarm malfunctions and scrambled eggs the consistency of Jell-O….yeah. Fun. Times. NOT. The actual site visit went extremely well, and I do have to admit that rolling around in a huge King Size bed was quite fun. On my return to work, the Site Manager contacted me. She relayed great happiness both from the HP Sales division as well as McKesson (the customer I support and visited) as regards my trip out to GA, and the impact and knowledge I had/gave. She even gave me a Land’s End catalogue to look through to find a “thank you” gift. They slap the Spherion logo on them and such. I picked out a nice black jacket, kinda a wind breaker shell with a fleece lining…will come in quite handy in a few months, as I don’t have a winter jacket that fits and is good for going out in public with. I guess if I am looking at complaints, work is the one place that is pretty complaint free. Our department is not being touched by HP layoffs, and my Manager has expressed that he is quite pleased with my work and efforts/progress on the McKesson account. I’ve got a few fellow cube-mates that manage a smile or laugh out of me, and I get a sense of accomplishment in some form or fashion by the end of each day. (most the time. )

Bleh.

The weather sucks. If there is a worse time to be suffering from depression, I don’t know what it is. 105-109 is the average daily temp. We are lucky to get a few 99 - 101 once a week or so. Its like walking into a convection oven. Hot, dry and arid. It makes you want to curl up in a dark corner and sleep under a ceiling fan, butt-ass naked until October. This is, in fact, one of the reasons that Dan and I are playing around with the idea of moving someplace else next year. We cannot afford it anytime soon, but its weighing heavily on our minds, for many reasons.

Bleh.

The apartment is the bain of my existence. I hate it. I don’t make any noises otherwise. Its a well known, documented and often re-instated fact. 5 people living in a box that is 990 sqft and filled to the BRIM with crap, is NOT my idea of a good time. This apartment was suppose to be temporary. When we moved out from FL, the idea was to get an apartment that suited us for the time - and as soon as we were settled in our jobs - start looking for a house. That was two years ago and one child less. At the time, we would have been able to get a 3 bedroom house for around 275k - 300k. Dan had a good job paying a nice wage, and my HP income was a good supplement. We had the chance at getting a great mortgage with the jobs we had and with our expenses at the time. Then, slowly, one thing after the other raveled that apart. Now? Houses in this area are starting at 450k, and that’s with your neighbor being able to reach into your window and flip on your light switch from the privacy of THEIR OWN HOUSE. Needless to say, we are fucked. There is no chance of the market in this area going down, in fact, month after month its steadily rising as the area around us expands and booms.

Bleh.

I look around this messy, unorganized, cluttered, over-stuffed and growing pile of belongs that inhabits this apartment….and all I can do is sit down and cry. We have to put a baby gate up in the hall-way so that Claire has someplace to crawl/walk and play without one of us having to be behind her every step so that she doesn’t get into some pile or corner of stuff that she shouldn’t be in. Dan and I have boxes that are clothes are piled in, because we no longer have a bedroom or closet. In order to keep our sanity and to keep Haley from killing her brother, we moved TJ and Claire into the “Master” bedroom and stuck our bed in the living room. I was ok with it at first. Its not like we entertain, and my 10 year old sofas are literally falling apart. We stowed our dining room table and chairs with my Dad and put our computers in the “dinette”. The kids eat at folding tables on the patio (on the dilapidated old sofa) or inside at the love seat (depending on weather). Its pathetic. Clothes all over, piles of this, that and the other. Anyone that knows me will tell you I DESPISE clutter and piles…so its very safe for me to say that this house will be the death of me, or some unsuspecting passerby, if I don’t find not only the motivation to do something about it, but the space to shove all this shit.

Bleh.

I took a couple days off for several reasons, one of which was to clean out some closets and try to toss some junk we no longer use or need. Did I get ANYthing done? Nope. Not a damn thing. I suppose it didn’t help that I’ve been fighting a sore throat since I came back from Atlanta, which this morning resulted in me barely being able to talk, but still. I have the best intentions, I talk through the steps, and possible resolution to that pile, or this stack. But when it comes time to execute those plans? I fail. Every. Single. Time. Which of course leads to another lovely round of spiraling depression, hopelessness, failure and general funk.

Bleh.

I wish we had the money to move. Or, at the very least, to be able to get supplies that would help organize and make living in this box more bearable until we CAN move. Simple things like dressers, or closet shelves/organizes or bins…or SOMETHING. I’m half tempted to find out about renting one of the on site garages, so that we can stow stuff like Christmas ornaments, Claire’s clothes that no longer fit (that I cannot sell or give away until I know what Sunny is having) and the massive piles of books, hobby supplies and the like. Bleh. Maybe I will call the apartment manager and find out about that.

~ looks up ~ Wow…I sure spit alot out, didn’t I.

Well, I guess I will mosey over to the expansive and roomy kitchenette and see about putting together a grocery list. Have I mentioned, that in this heat, if we heat up the oven long enough to make fucking tater tots, we all suffer in unbearable heat for about 4 hours after?

I shall leave you with this, my dear readers. A rant I sent to Old Navy. * hugs *

(more…)

7/22/2005

Category: Good Thing. Posted by Lucky at 12:38 pm.

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7/7/2005

Song of the Week

Category: Good Thing. Posted by Lucky at 9:37 am.

Artist: Eve 6
Song: Inside Out

I would swallow my pride
I would choke on the rhines
But the lack thereof would leave me empty inside
I would swallow my doubt
Turn it inside out
Find nothing but faith in nothing
Want to put my tender
Heart in a blender
Watch it spend round
To a beautiful oblivion
Rendezvous
Then I’m through with you

I burn burn like a wicker cabinet
Chalk white and oh so frail
I see our time has gotten stale
The tick-tock of the clock is painful
All sane and logical
I want to tear it off the wall
I hear words and clips and phrases
I think sick like ginger ale
My stomach turns and I exhale

{Chorus}

So Cal is where my mind states
But it’s not my state of mind
I’m not as ugly sad as you
Or am I origami?
Folded up and just pretend
Demented as the motives in your head

{Chorus}

I alone am the one you don’t know you need
Take heed feed your ego
Make me blind when you eyes close
Sink when you get close
Tie me to the bedpost

I alone am the one you don’t know you need
You don’t know you need me
Make me blind when you get close
Tie me to the bedpost

Now I’m through with you!

Rendezvous
Then I’m through with you

7/3/2005

Hallmark Petition

Category: Good Thing. Posted by Lucky at 10:48 pm.

Thank you to Effie for sharing this. While I may not go into a Hallmark store as often as I probably should these days, I think this is an important view/need for the industry to recognize. Healing comes in so many forms, both physical, mental and spiritual. Having one more way to express love, concern, support and shared pain is important to this weary process that too many parents are feeling.

Please take a few minutes and read what the petition is about, and if you are of like mind, sign for Hallmark to include Pregnancy, Infant, and Child Loss cards in their collection.

Hallmark Petition
Over 2,000 signatures collected
since May 24, 2005.

It will only take a moment, and it could help someone you love more than you will ever know.

Sisterly Love

Category: A Bed of Flowers. Posted by Lucky at 12:53 pm.

Wow, the week FLEW!

I spent most of it not really sure which was up…but thats not altogether unusual. What WAS unusual, was that I Kristen, my sister, and her Husband and thier son were in town.

* bounces *

I’ve not seen my sister in about….7 years. I’ve never met my Nephew Ethan, and she had never met Thomas or obviously, Claire. Why is that? Well, to best sum up, around the time of our parents divorced a few years back, a few things went awry, my communication and trust was one of them. This is not to say Kris did anything wrong. Sure, we share a difference of opinion on religion, but I’ve never been…upset, as I have with others in my family. So, over the course of the last few years, walls have come down, and bridges rebuilt. The one I am most proud of, is the one that leads to my Sister.

I remember hearing when I was growing up that “Friends come and go, but Sisters are Forever.” I guess I took that for granted for awhile. Stupid me. Thankfully I think we’ve come out the other side in pretty good repair. I love her. Always have, always will. I’m so grateful that our Dad brought them down for a visit, as I think it helped strengthen the bonds we are reabuilding, and thats paramount. Plus, Dan got to meet them, and understands, much to his chagrin ;), a bit more of the insanity that IS my family.

Kris looked great, skinny as HELL!! * winks at Kris * Justin? Never changes. He will always look the way he did when he was 14, to me. Red-headed, spunky, fun loving and true. Ethan is a CRACK UP! He’s as smart as a whip, and WILL catch you off guard if you are not watching out! Thats one bright boy, destined for greatness, I have no doubts. Hey Ethan, my foot still hurts more than yours! :P

We spent time at the local water park, which we decided totally sucked. Though it was a bit fun just the same. Yesterday we had dinner at Dad’s, consisting of BBQ, sibling stories and much laughter. Dan and I brought some “Fire Works” down for the kids. Was nice to sit out in the cool summer air (HA!) and watch Kris play pyromaniac, much to the joy and amazement of two over-sugared, beyond-exhausted little boys. We even got our step-brother, Bill, involved in some sibling battles with a water bottle squirt…or three. Ethan and Thomas are just over a year apart in age, and seemed to bond near instantly. I’m looking forward to helping forge a strong bond between the two of them, as my ultimate goal is to turn Ethan into a hoodlum just like Thomas ;) LOL.

This morning it was a family breakfast at I-Hop and a relunctant goodbye. I really hated to see her go, and tried to hide it…don’t know if I succeeded all that well. I probably just came off as moody, but then again, she should be used to that now…as I started that trend about 20 years ago ;)

Hopefully we will see each other again soon. This time I would like to go up to HER stomping grounds. Who knows, maybe Dan and I will be convinced that there is a better place to live than Sacramento ;)


Reba MacIntyre - My Sister, My Friend

Hey girl, it’s me: I just called to tell you: “Hi.”
Call me when you get this.
Haven’t talked lately: so hard to find the time.
Give the boys a big kiss.
Tell them that I miss them:
By the way, I miss you too.

I was thinking just today about how we used to play,
Barbie dolls and make-up; tea parties; dress up.
I remember how we’d fight, then make up an’ laugh all night.
Wish we were kids again,
My sister: my friend.

Oh yeah, before I forget: I met someone.
I think I really like him.
I was just wonderin’ if I’m jumpin’ the gun,
By goin’ out on a limb,
An’ invite him home for Christmas,
To meet the family.

Seems like just yesterday, you brought home old what’s-his-name.
He had been drinkin’: what were you thinkin’?
After dinner he passed out: we can laugh about it now,
‘Cause we’ve learned a lot since then,
My sister: my friend.

Do you think you could come and see me sometime soon?
(See me sometime soon.)
We could just hang out like we used to.

It’s late an’ I should go but I can’t hang up the phone,
Until I tell you what I don’t tell you enough.
Even though at times it seemed we were more like enemies,
I’d do it all again,
My sister: my friend.
Oh, my sister: my friend.