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Monday, August 2, 2010

Dog Days Of Summer

I don't know about the rest of you pixies, but here in my lovely little slice of the country -- it's hot. REAL hot. And not just your average, garden-variety hot, either. Not only triple-digit hot, but the "we're warning you to stay indoors" kind of hot. Saturday was 103 in actual temperature and reached 113 with the heat index.

There's the old saying in the South that ladies don't sweat, they "glisten." I'm here to call bull on that! I'm sweating like the devil in church! And, sweating is uncomfortable because you end up having to peel yourself out of the sheets in the morning, and that's not a way to make Mama happy first thing in the morning, let me tell you.

All of this extreme heat and humidity like so thick like trying to breathe in honey has left me feeling decidedly inactive. No one really wants to expend any energy when there's a chance that you could spontaneously combust, do they? Summers are generally lazy around Casa KLee, what with the "no work, no school" thing, but this heat is making me even lazier, if such a thing were actually possible. I mean, how hot does it have to be for you to decide that you don't even want to check the internet because you'd have to move your mouse hand?

So that's my whine this week -- colossal heatwave. What about the rest of you?

56 comments:

Liz Miller said...

Aunt Flo is visiting, it's raining, it's hot and sticky even with the rain, my office is freezing, and my boss is back from vacation.

esperanza said...

Oh, Liz, that is a bad combo right there.

I hear ya on the heat, KLee. It is 98 outside right now, which isn't so bad, if it weren't humid, too. I sweat, too. Like a pig. (Or I think I have always heard like a "whore in church"). Anyway, sweaty.

Went to the grocery store this morning, which is a whine in and of itself. Got home and realized I'd forgotten something, that the peaches were on the bottom of the sack of produce, and then dropped the dozen eggs on the floor. I'm thinking I would have been ahead if I'd just stayed home.

AW: a potty-trained Sweet Baboo!!!! She goes #1 and #2 on the big potty, even in unfamiliar bathrooms. She peed for the Sunday School teacher on the big potty. And, child-who-can't-really-talk said, "Mama, poo!" yesterday, and went to the potty and did it! I'm calling it potty trained.

W: I can't really find anything interesting to talk about except the aforementioned potty items. It consumes all my attention.

Days said...

Oh Liz.

I have a nasty canker sore.

The kitten has the pooks and my carpet is suffering mightily. Ick.

Anonymous said...

Yay for the potty training!
Boo for Aunt Flo, pooks of any kind, canker sores, and bad bosses.

--Neighbor Lady

kathy a. said...

i'd be complaining about the unseasonably chilly summer, except that the recent round of hot flashes would kill me without this weather, plus a nice block of blue ice under my pillow at night. i'm about 7 months into this round of "is it menopause yet? please??" and hoping daughter's return NEXT WEEK doesn't give my hormones any vibes.

boo, heat! yahoo, potty training!

Miranda said...

KLee, good to see you. I hate the heat. Boy do I hate the heat.

Liz, that is an awful combo.

Esperanza, yay!!! on the potty training. Children who were potty trained were children who were more rewarding to be around. I may be slightly biased about the joys of potty trained children due to my carrying around diapers and pull ups and wipes and changes of clothes for eleven years straight (no, having children 8 year apart is most certainly not easier; however, that was how it worked out) but I remember how excited I felt when my youngest potty trained. I still feel that way when we go out with friends with younger children.

Days, hugs. Lots of hugs.

So, I am heading camping this week. In tents. The weather service predicts thunderstorms for three of the five days we will be there. In tents. With two fractious teens. Given that it has rained for the last two years we have gone camping and last year was so cold, no one changed out of sweat shirts, I am not amused. To add insult to injury, Aunt Flo is expected to camp with us.

Oh, pook and fireplace it all.

Anti-whine: I took five whole days off work. I have been unplugged (mostly) from the office and it feels good.

AW2: I'm re-reading several classics from my book stash. By classics, I mean books that I love for their ability to transport me to a different place and entertain me for several hundred pages with little effort.

I'll pass our grilled fresh pineapple around. It's a camping staple for our family.

kathy a. said...

boo, bad bosses, freezing, canker sores, le pook, and carpet disasters.

actually, my daughter will be home saturday!!!!11!!! she is probably en route to the shinkansen to tokyo right now, so i assume she got that packing thing done. and that last essay.

amy said...

Wishing your daughter safe travels, kathy a.!

I'm buried under a thousand pounds of student papers, and I simply do not have time to get it all done. I have to give up tonight and just go to bed. My students have already been very forgiving this semester, but really, I should be better at getting their work back to them in a timely manner. In my defense, if they'd quit turning in crap and/or plagiarized work, grading would go a *lot* faster.

kathy a. said...

heh -- some kind of award to amy about the grading of carp and plagerism.

i messed up on my daughter's departure, which is actually tomorrow. have to give her a wakeup skype call at 1 p.m. my time, because her clock died. is the internet wonderous, or what? [i also recommended buying a cheap travel clock, because she'll be needing a clock sometime in her future life.]

emily said...

Second the award for amy. Grading carp is never fun. Teaching--the best job ever, except for the students:-).

Safe travels to kathy a.'s daughter. My daughter also returns home this weekend, but from a much shorter stay. My oldest and I are going to spend ~36 hours away driving to pick her up and bring her home. (too far to do in one day). Having someone to share the driving is a huge antiwhine!

Yeah Sweet Baboo on the toilet training. Esperanza--in a few years when she can do it all independently *and* you feel comfortable sending her to a public restroom solo--it gets *even* better.

liz--sorry for the trifecta + 1 of misery!

Miranda--hope the weather people are wrong. Why does Aunt Flo always come camping? I had no idea she was so outdoorsy!

KLee--hope the heat breaks soon!

Days--sending the special "bodily fluids" cleaining fluid--we're dealing with bark here so we've got a supply!

I'm not going to whine (per se) because I treated myself to an early bday present--an electronic device to allow me to be connected to teh internets when I am away from home. (An unfortunately named produce that might be useful when dealing with iAuntFlo.)

While I totally justified this purchase (going back to work full time in the fall, may not have internet access at work) I don't really *need* it. So I'm feeling just a tad guilty. I'm atoning by not whining this week (or at least trying....)

An observation: Red Lobster (a large, chain seafood restaurant in the US, not sure if they are elsewhere) is featuring crab this month, calling it Crabfest. Doesn't that sound like a place to go to whine? I don't think I'd want to be a waiter at that restaurant!

esperanza said...

emily, you made me snort my water TWICE! First, iAuntFlo and then with the Crabfest--could be a whining party or, er, something rather unfortunate in the STD arena. I wouldn't want to be a waiter in either case!

Anonymous said...

Neighbor Boy doing well recovering from tonsil/adenoid removal, until this am when his nose started bleeding. My gut says it is *not* connected to surgery, but am off to dr. in a few to dbl check. whine: office of surgeon said if bleeding have to do er. antiwhine: my doc will take a look and let me know; 2nd antiwhine: the surgeon was absolutely fabulous, best bed-side manner evah, so no cluesticking needed.

Must say it may be the only time I have ever hoped my son has been simply picking his nose....

whine: My daughter was supposed to be at gymnastics camp this week, but on the first day, she pulled something in her back she thinks. and hit her head. home resting today, with intermittent bag of frozen squash as an icepack. I was wondering when I was ever going to use that....
antiwhine: at least the place gives credit to our account for missing for injury
whine: we don't really take any classes there anymore except for summer (and i think the chances are not high for the future). Neighbor girl has very loosy-goosy joints etc., and I think maybe gynmnastics and her body just don't mix


off to the dr....

--Neighbor Lady

Anonymous said...

Huge antiwhine:
No ER needed. Just a little scab in his nose that is the cuplrit. Hooray!
home now for some relaxing for everyone this afternoon. movies, books, yay summer!

--neighbor lady

Liz Miller said...

NL: YAY!!!

Aghast. My co-workers have never read Caves of Steel (http://tinyurl.com/CavesOfSteel). We are all geeks. I don't know what the world is coming to.

purple_kangaroo said...

W/AW: My baby, Ebee, is 5 today.

Also, my best doe is still sneezing, but my absolute favorite rabbit, a buck, is fine. He never did sneeze again after that first day. I'm going to take a couple of the persistent sneezers down to a somewhat-local university for testing.

Anonymous said...

W/AW I have never read Caves of Steel either. But I think I will if you think it is good. I am very much a geek at heart too, but kind of gave up sci fi as a rebellion against my dad long ago (he has an entire wall of sci fi--which I would have thought was uber cool if, ya know, it wasn't my dad). Maybe it is time to revisit!

--Neighbor Lady

Liz Miller said...

Caves of Steel is a mystery in a science fiction setting. Really excellent.

Anonymous said...

Yay!!! New book to read!!! :):)
Made my day!
:) Neighbor Lady

Sue said...

Anti-whine: VACATION!!!! Yay!!! It finally happened! July ended!!! (Really, it is seriously the LONGEST month of the year).

Anti-whine: Sister from Capital of Canada and her husband visited over the long weekend. It was lovely.

Whine: We could, as a family, be a good case study in family systems psychology.

Anti-whine: All four sisters, all four partners, all together with a father who survived a brain aneurysm five years ago. All of our children are grown, employed and happy. Two sisters are grandparents. Really, we've got a dern good life, all of us. We miss Mom so much, but to have us all together made me feel so incredibly blessed.

Back later to catch up....hubby just bbq'd a lovely dinner for me. See? Gud Life.

esperanza said...

Tuesday has been a two-pooks-in-the-underwear kind of day. Sigh.

kathy a. said...

also, cat pook on the laptop kind of day. bleah.

Sue said...

Oh my. Cat pook on the laptop has to win something. Fer sure.

Esperanza - potty training (not that I have any expertise - I should have just hired my kid's therapists WHILE I was potty training them...bygones) it's a rollercoaster ride. A messy, smelly one sometimes. But eventually it's happy ever after... I promise.

Pixie good wishes to all with pook and carp issues, and to miranda especially....tent. Srsly? You are a finer woman than I - 'tis true. I haven't slept on the ground for many many years and frankly, at this point, my next opportunity will probably not involve a camp fire. More like a big spray of flowers and a hearse. Just sayin...

Headache Update: Day 6 - we're still good here. Injection site is no longer inflamed and sore and the headache is behaving. At its worst today here in Humidity Central it was only 3/10. I laugh at your 3/10! Ha! Once this weather system moves through I'm sure it will be fine. Overall - worth the trip.

kathy a. said...

AW: the laptop was closed.

NL -- glad all is well!

PK -- who said your baby could be 5 already!?!? happy birthday!

sue, big cheers about the headache being not even a shadow of its former self!

esperanza said...

yay Sue! Teensy headache, vacation, woo hoo!

I'll take pook in the underwear over the laptop anytime. Both events were understandable. The first was at naptime, when I play with fire by letting her sleep in her undies. And the second was when she and Mini were playing and I was out of the room. Mini, apparently, didn't do a darn thing to help if/when Sweet said "poo" in her smallest voice.

AW: Mini and Sweet playing together is just about the cutest thing ever.

Liz Miller said...

YAY Sue!!!!

Kathy A. when the anti-whine is that the laptop was closed at the time, it's not much of an anti-whine. How do you even clean that?

Liz Miller said...

Whine: Am wearing an outfit I'm not totally sure is flattering.

It's a pair of pale blue slacks and a pale-blue/bright-blue/spring-green/black/white patterned tee. Both are some kind of poly.

I thought, when looking at it in the warm light of my mom's room, that it was summery and cool looking.

Under fluorescents at work...it's a bit...1970's grandma. Or at least, that's my fear.

Liz Miller said...

I first wore the outfit in my mom's room, because they were hers and she handed them down to me.

Liz Miller said...

AW: I just asked two women who work in my department and they said the top is good, but would look better with navy or cream pants.

The pants, they agree, are too '70's to be retro.

Miranda said...

Sue, hooray for pain free days!!! BTW, my kids LOVE camping. My best friend took them a few times and they begged me to come. Well, I'm a sucker for anything that makes them happy and I love seeing my friends, so I go. I have two business trips later this month and I am staying at 4 star establishments. Just sayin'.

Kathy A, hope the pook was easy to clean.

NL, glad your son is doing better.

Liz, I have to look for that book at the library. It sounds like something I would enjoy.

All right, I must finish my packing so I can leave for The Great Outdoors. At least I don't have to wear makeup at all on this trip.

JenR said...

Whine: Mandatory fun this afternoon at work. At least it is at a park, not in the office. But it will leave us with just as much work and less time to do it tomorrow.

Hugs everybody! And yay Sweet Baboo!

esperanza said...

when does the concept of "hurry up" develop? Just wondering.

AW: I'm not camping

Days said...

My laptop charger has developed a quirk so that it works only when it wants to. Still warrantied and my hubby has the same laptop/charger, so it's mostly an inconvenience but it's irking me nonetheless.

Hugs to all with pook, bark and carp whines. Safe travels to the travels and fingers crossed for quick healing for young gymnasts and pixies alike.

Jenevieve said...

Working! Actual income from being a licensed vet! Whoda thunk?

W: Tired. Already. My stipulated 2 nights/week of on call is now 4. Yuck.

W: Birthday blues. No plans, no recognigtion (except from my fab sis-in-law), no nothing. And I'm working that day (tomorrow). Every birthday is like this for me; I can't remember a single fun one! Whine whine whine.

AW: H is sooo cute. And our pool is open again! Think I'll go for a swim.

Anonymous said...

Happy Birthday Jenevieve!!!!!!!!!!
:)Neighbor lady

Liz Miller said...

Happy birthday and happy actual employment!!!

YAY!

esperanza said...

Happy birthday to Jenevieve, and cluesticks to everybody who's supposed to say Happy Birthday and shower her with presents but isn't.

kathy a. said...

happy birthday, Jeni!

"mandatory fun" seems a little contradictory, don't you think?

days, i hope they replace that charger and send profuse apologies and chocolate, pronto.

secret weapon: antibacterial wipes, and lots of 'em. i would have had to throw the laptop away if we were talking about the keyboard area.

Sue said...

Happy Birthday Jeni!!!

Miranda - I'm all about other people camping. I get why it's fun. It's just not my thing. I'm too high maintenance for it, I think.

kathy a. - I'm glad the laptop was closed. I think.

Whine: Went to the pharmacy today to pick up my "Peglyte" stuff. *gulp* It's the 4 litres of nasty citrus-tasting stuff that you have to drink before the colonoscopy, which is booked for me for next Tuesday.

Anti-whine: Funny moment when I looked at the pharmacist and asked her if there were any preparation method that didn't involve 4 litres of fluid. She said no. I said "There's no way for this to end nicely, is there?" She laughed knowingly and said, "Honestly? Nope." The best part was that the young male pharmacy assistant looking on was horrified. We were giggling while he looked as if he were watching a Stephen King movie. Hysterical.

Wait twenty years love - you will be looking at that massive jug-o-horror and either laughing or crying. I chose Teh Laughing. Oy.

kathy a. said...

AW: prop 8 was just overturned in CA! by a federal judge, using the federal constitution. i loves me some constitutional fairness. and also, love is good.

Liz Miller said...

Sue, the prep really isn't all that bad. The orange stuff was actually palatable and the Miralax dissolves in it well. Heads-up: make yourself some GOOD beef or chicken broth now. The canned stuff is terrible.

But no, there's no good end to the prep.

YAY CALIFORNIA!

emily said...

ack! A typo!

I originally typed "An unfortunately named produce that might be useful when dealing with iAuntFlo"

I meant produc*t*, not produc*e*. I can't think of any produce useful for dealing with Aunt Flo. D*mn spell checkers that don't know what I mean!

kathy a. said...

emily -- if you think we didn't understand what you wrote, you don't know us very well. ;)

Sue said...

Thanks Liz - I'll get on that clear broth asap. I bet the canned stuff is also full of salt too. Bleh.

Major Anti-whine: Beautiful Northern Lights last night. Around 11:00, hubby and I were sitting on the deck watching the colours dance.

amy said...

The big 60-mile walk is in 9 days. I am kind of close to the minimum pledge (which must be met or I can't walk -- probably will be met by self-donation). I'm not entirely sure I like my walking mates. I mean, I like them well enough when I'm with them, but when I'm not with them, I don't have an urge to get together.

On the flip side, my BFF (whom I miss whenever we're apart) got a job in my state and is moving back! YAY! I'm so so so so so so so so so so so so so happy! I have missed her so much while she's been living halfway across the country. <3

Follow up: my students are still irritating me. I have one student who is stalker-esque, and I'm such a pushover that when she asked if she could switch sections, I said yes. The switch, however, has ruined the previously awesome chemistry my night class was rocking. *pout*

Days said...

amy - is there an online donation option? Hooray for your BFF moving back!

Sue - glad to hear about the headache relief and jealous on the northern lights sighting.


Happy birthday Jeni! And hooray for paid employment!

I may have had to spend more than an hour on the line with customer service, but they are sending me a shiny new adapter free of charge. Hooray. At least the kids enjoyed shaking their groove thangs to the bad elevator music while I was on hold.

kathy a. said...

~snort~ days should win EVERYTHING for " At least the kids enjoyed shaking their groove thangs to the bad elevator music while I was on hold." or mullet, at the least.

amy said...

I second kathy a.'s nomination for Mullet for Groooooove thaaaangs... If not Mullet, then Silver Lining. Liz definitely should be in contention for some kind of groooove thaaaang award with the poly outfit. Also emily for Teacher's Mullet with "Teaching--the best job ever, except for the students". Boy, don't I know it.

@Neighbor Lady: For some dumb reason, I was so happy when my daughter finally got the fine motor skills to pick her nose. I thought it was a milestone. My son? Not so much. Glad NB is on the mend. :)

@Days: There is an online donation option, but I don't want any pixie to feel obligated. Also, I am grateful for all the support I've gotten -- both emotional and monetary. (In other words, I'm not sure I could have made it through some of the frustrations without all y'all.) www.the3day.org/goto/amy.pavlov

I am envious of those who get to see the northern lights! I might be far enough north to see them, but it was overcast last night anyway.

@esperanza: sorry about the potty training upset, but it's a process, and hopefully Mini will learn quickly to help out a little more. :)

@Sue: best of luck with the procedure! If it goes like mine did, you will wake up feeling like you just had the most amazing nap of your life.

All right. Time to go spend the day with my teammates, who are both irritating me. Oy.

Sue said...

The "groove thangs" are cracking me up. I'll second kathy's snort.

thanks amy - I've heard a few horror stories from people who woke up before the procedure was finished, etc... (it's like childbirth - everyone has a terrible story that they MUST share)

I'll be cheering you on for the race!!!! Way to go!!!

kathy a. said...

oooh, ohhh, antiwhine! the premature babies of my friends are home, both of them! one is nearly 6 lbs., and the other is 4 now -- so, they are still teensy, but thriving like crazy. home is better than NICU.

esperanza said...

yay for home!

Anonymous said...

Yay for the babies being home!!!

latebreaking whine: Have been trying to find teaching jobs. No luck. Have then been trying to find teaching assistant jobs. Had a great lead on one, and the principal I interviewed with told me she liked unconvential candidates (which I am), and agreed that my phd is a detriment in job searches for regular positions (due to the salary parameters), but said she thought i was a great candidate for assistant (not subject to same salary framework--ie really bad pay) yada yada, and that the asst position was a great stepping stone.....told me to let her know if I was still interested....I replied yes.....today she let me know she offered someone else the job.

wah.

School starts in about 3 weeks.

not looking promising.

--Neighbor Lady

kathy a. said...

oh, NL -- that sucks. xoxox

Sue said...

(((NL))))

Hooray for babies at home!!!

Liz Miller said...

Anti-whine from Wednesday: Look at the lower left hand corner of the 2nd picture in this set

That's my spouse. Volunteering.

KLee said...

Awards are coming -- I've been up to my hindquarters in alligators today! Sorry!

kathy a. said...

aaaaiiiiii! daughter just IM'd from tokyo. "is dad there?" she missed the shuttle she planned to take to the major station that will put her on a train to the airport. and she isn't sure where to find that airport train in this huge station.

so i got on the phone to her dad; and he explained where the tracks to the airport are ["go to the basement. it runs on tracks 1-4, but there are other stracks in the station with those numbers."] and gave the good advice to Ask Someone In Uniform.

so she is late, may have to buy a new ticket to the airport, AND she is dithering around. but she finally got offline to go catch the next shuttle. /faint/ she really isn't in danger of missing the plane, but you just don't want to get lost or be late in a situation like this, no?