Off to a fine start. Liz reports a snow day today, featuring Mean Mama Makes MM Write Thank You Notes.
We have a cat-related rebellion. The guilty party tossed away the small rug by her favorite box, peed directly on the wood floor, and left a few tootsie rolls, too. Gah.
Last night was a lot of fun -- my cousin invited us and a few others out for sushi to celebrate his birthday! There's a good sushi place nearby with a private room, which is perfect.
Weirdly, though, cousin's step-father-in-law loudly demanded separate checks, completely overruling the birthday boy, who wanted to treat his near and dear. At 46 and your own party, you just don't expect somebody else to start bossing everyone.
What's going on in your neighborhood?
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About Wednesday Whining
Wednesday Whining is a weekly blog with rotating hosts. Whines and Anti-Whines, both big and small, are welcome! Our purposes are mutual support and sharing a few laughs along the way.
The Wednesday Whining Community is diverse, and strives to be safe, welcoming, and supportive. To this end, comments that are personally abusive or otherwise disparaging [regarding race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation] will be deleted by moderators, along with spam and self-promotion.
The Wednesday Whining Community is diverse, and strives to be safe, welcoming, and supportive. To this end, comments that are personally abusive or otherwise disparaging [regarding race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation] will be deleted by moderators, along with spam and self-promotion.
FAQ
Q: When does Wednesday Whining appear?
A: The Whiner's Ball commences no later than Tuesday, and ends when Awards are given (usually Thursday in theory, but definitely before Monday).
Q: Awards? Really?
A: Yes, really. Traditional awards include Style [music, poetry, etc.], Old Skool [piddly little whines], and Elevated Risk of Mullet [funniest line in a whine], but other hand-crafted awards may be granted at the host's discretion, and nominations from commenters are encouraged.
Q: Can I whine about someone who just does not "get it"?
A: The Cluestick Posse is on hand for persons in need.
Q: Is there a mascot?
A: Ralph is the mascot.
Q: Are there other traditions I should know about?
A: The passing of virtual refreshments is appreciated.
Q: How did this all get started anyhow?
A: Phantom Scribbler was our muse and host for two years.
Q: What was the first prize ever awarded?
A: The Playdough Violin
A: The Whiner's Ball commences no later than Tuesday, and ends when Awards are given (usually Thursday in theory, but definitely before Monday).
Q: Awards? Really?
A: Yes, really. Traditional awards include Style [music, poetry, etc.], Old Skool [piddly little whines], and Elevated Risk of Mullet [funniest line in a whine], but other hand-crafted awards may be granted at the host's discretion, and nominations from commenters are encouraged.
Q: Can I whine about someone who just does not "get it"?
A: The Cluestick Posse is on hand for persons in need.
Q: Is there a mascot?
A: Ralph is the mascot.
Q: Are there other traditions I should know about?
A: The passing of virtual refreshments is appreciated.
Q: How did this all get started anyhow?
A: Phantom Scribbler was our muse and host for two years.
Q: What was the first prize ever awarded?
A: The Playdough Violin
Moderators
68 comments:
My cousin's wife was mortified at her stepfather, but she couldn't get him to listen.
We invite cousin and his wife to birthday dinners out a few times a year, our treat, because we like them. The other couple there are my cousin's best couple friends; they spend a lot of time together, mostly at the friends' house because this couple has kids. So, they were trying to reciprocate.
If there is bill-haggling in our family, it usually involves an elder wanting to pick up the whole tab. Guess that was as startling as all the noise over dividing it up.
Liz, glad that the school project ordeal is done. And yay, you, for carrying the thank you card tradition to a new generation!
What IS it with all that snow and freezing? There is a rumor we might even get hail today. Yesterday was sunny and low 70's. We have not approached freezing at all this winter, which is odd.
AW: Two people (moderately well known in my circles, even) said yes when I asked them to do something.
AW: one baby albatross done
W: five more baby albatrosses to go
AW: friend giving me free books
W: this does not bode well for albatross completion, since books are inherently more appealing than albatrosses.
AW: I completely rearranged my bedroom today!
W: pixies, the master bedroom in this place is 10'5"x8'5". And we have a queen bed. Why on earth did I think that I could move all the furniture around by myself? It was tight. And very much a logic puzzle. And now I am sore.
AW: now, Mr. Q won't bump into the bookcase, every time he gets out of bed! And I feel significantly less claustrophobic, now that I've moved the bed.
W: you guys, did you SEE the dimensions of this bedroom? I understood and supported, in theory, the mentality of maxing out the living space, while minimizing the bedroom space. (We just sleep in here, y'know?) But this is pretty comical.
That's pretty small, QWP. We've lived in a house with the opposite problem, though: too much bedroom space, too little living space. It got old pretty quick.
Yay for well-known helpers, Esperanza! Also for book-sharing!
And speaking of books, QWP, good job with rearranging! I'd suggest finding a roomier room for the bookcase, but y'all sound like a bunch of readers, so I'm pretty sure that will be a future project. ;)
W: The albatross overlords looked unkindly on a plea for time. It only took them 3 fireplacing weeks to say no. A certain person around here is spraying "panic be gone" and using bad words.
The albatrosses are hovering this week! I hope you can all cut them loose asap.
We have a small-ish bedroom as well QWP, because we designed the place with wider hallways and doorways to accommodate the wheelchair. The wide hallways make the main living area look lovely and open, but the two BRs are teeny. We took out all but the most necessary furniture - that helped.
In our old place on The Island, we also had the same space problem as esperanza: we had two massive bedrooms, and almost no living space. It is now an ideal suite for my cousin and a roommate, since they each get a lot of space to themselves, but it was a really odd suite for a married couple that loved to entertain.
And I moved the big bookcase to the dining room, all by myself! And then E helped me put the books back it out. Because I can't not have ANY books in my room, I put a teeny bookcase in a corner. (You guys, between the three of us, we have five bookcases! I pared down the book collection add much as I could today, but didn't reach my goal of getting rid of a bookcase. Instead, we now have two bookcases in dining room instead of one.)
W/AW: this place would be pretty roomy, if I could manage to part with most of my books.
Uh QWP. We have 8 bookcases. 4 people. I've pared down a LOT in the past few years. Baboos each have one in their rooms, also double as toy storage, so not full of books. But still. 8.
We have somewhere north of 12 bookcases, although some are used for work stuff, and some include non-book items. And then there are book piles, book boxes, books in cabinets, books in bins under daughter's bed, and book shelves bolted to various walls. We might have just a teensy problem...
My people!
I asked Mr. Q how three people have five bookcases, and he said, "We used to be two people with five bookcases! We're improving!"
I'm not telling how many bookcases I've got, but it's more than any of y'all, and there's only 3 of us, and most of the books are mine. In my defense, I used to work in bookstores.
Well, in all of our defenses, we are/were women who worked and no longer have an office in which to put some professional-type books. Yes?
And yes, it is good to be among my people.
You are my tribe, no question. We have 5 bookcases at home. When I run out of space at home I just bring them to the office. If they even vaguely hint of anything work-related, I free up space at home for more books.
Books! Books! Yay!
W: In other news, I was triangled in a very sneaky way on Sunday morning. I am not happy about this development at all. I'll be dealing with it swiftly and professionally today, but underneath I want to shake the person responsible and tell her to grow the he!l up. This isn't high school and I'm not her bestie.
I was really really jealous of one friend, who kept adding built-in bookshelves until there was hardly any wall space left. She had entire bookcases sized to fit paperbacks exactly.
Sue, yuck on the triangulation.
Green curry chicken in the crockpot. Tossed in diced potato and onion; tried to coat the chicken with this spicy prepared curry paste, garlic, ginger; threw in some veg stock. Near the end, I'll add more veggies and coconut milk. And there will be jasmine rice.
Yum! Please share. We're making a pizza here, and I'm keeping it low key, because we spent the morning with a house full of little ones. Even after a nap, E and I are now wiped, and staying as quiet as possible.
Paranoia: I'm paranoid that one of the one of the kids may have started coming down with a stomach bug, while she was visiting. Her older sister has something (and stayed home), but one of the toddlers had a...suspicious-looking diaper. After changing that, I started obsessively washing my hands, and all the kids' hands. Now my hypochondria is working overtime.
(This is what every day is like, working in a daycare, isn't it?)
This may not completely cover it, but [a] sometimes kids' poop doesn't all look alike, and [b] handwashing is the single best antidote. Also [c] no bark!
Just had the appointment where we went through all of my clothes. 1/3 got thrown away (justly), 1/3 is going to a thrift store attached to an abused women's shelter, 1/3 made the cut. It. Was. Awesome.
On the downside, I feel as sore as if I'd canvassed a hundred houses. Trying on clothes for five hours is hard work
Were you allowed to keep old favorites for non-public events, like housecleaning or hanging out or painting?
You're a strong woman, Liz. I should do a culling. One of these days... Fashion sense may be a little farther than I can stretch, though, even with help. ;)
Very cool, Liz. I have been going to more meetings lately and realized I have the following types of clothes:
* sweatpants and tshirts (exercising, dropping Baboos off at school)
* jeans and casual shirts (everything else I do in SmallTownVille)
* preaching clothes
Absolutely no "business" clothes--slacks, nice shirts, etc. I need an intervention, I think!
It was really terrific. We are going shopping Friday, to items to fill out my meager stock.
"Where's the rest of it?" was what she wanted to know about makeup, shoes, pants...
Wow, Liz! Impressive work. I really need to go through my clothes. I have an astonishing array of gray/black/navy clothing, with the occasional splash of purple.
I have three categories of clothes. Preaching, Professional (for the office, visiting, etc.), and Don't Go Out in Public in That. I'm missing the in-between casual level. Because I don't get out much.
Passing the hand sanitizer QWP.
Fully half of what's left is, "you can wear that until we get something better"
She said I had a good eye for color, most of my stuff got rejected for not fitting properly
My heart aches tonight: I just found out that one of our sweet ladies from our church on The Island has passed away. (Fireplacing cancer.) And there's no way I can fly out for any funeral. We had a nice, long chat on the phone, just after she was released from the hospital (to spend her last weeks at home). It's going to hit me more in the morning, when I write the cards to everyone. I have a feeling I'm going to find myself holding the blanket she made for E, and will lose it.
I am so sorry for your loss.
And I think that holding the blanket she made for E and letting your grief overtake you is a perfect way to mourn her.
(((QWP))) I'm so sorry for your loss.
((( QWP ))) Sending love. How very sweet that she made E a blanket; it sounds like she was so important to you. xoxox
I'm sorry QWP.
Well, I haven't had much time to dwell on it today, because the household toddler woke up GROUCHY. And (of course) I'm paranoid now, because she periodically tells me her tummy hurts. (But it might be more that she's backed up, and also her molar is clearly causing most of the grouchies.)
Grumpy toddlers: at least they're good for something!
QWP, you are truly desperate, or a far more thankful person than I, to find something good about a grumpy toddler.
FWIW, "my tummy hurts" is a fairly generic complaint around here.
W: Several baby albatrossi complete. One handed off to a colleague. The two remaining are tough little critters.
I just got a call from an unbloggable person who is doing an unbloggable thing and this person and I are NOT FRIENDS and everybody and their cousin Hannah knows it and I will have to be sweet as pie to this person and they will have to be sweet as pie to me and the whole time I will be wanting to vomit into their shoes.
There aren't enough bottles of Pepto in the world to last me the next 8 months.
Go, Espranza!
Liz. I used to have a homemade voodoo doll for when this exact kind of situation came up in the office setting. Stuffed a scrap of fabric in a vaguely humanish form; had a sharpie marker available for the needy to invent new curses, if the one needed was not yet located on the doll; and used some long corsage pins leftover from my wedding. People walked in popping with anger, shut the door, vented, and walked out smiling. I believe that "get a clue" was one of the curses, but there were many others. ;)
Yay esperanza!
Liz, I love kathy's idea for dealing with the Pepto-people. Sorry you have to deal with them, but at least the voodoo dolls avoid the need to vomit in shoes (because, how long can you resist doing that, right?).
My husband says it'll help to keep thinking how much more afraid this person is that I will vomit into their shoes than I am.
W: I was thinking that we were home free on being moved by the Powers That Be for Mr E's denomination. Usually by Spring Break, all moves at his "level" (how much I detest that their system is ranked by size and $$ is a rant for another day) have already been made. This year, not so much. They just posted all changes made, and they have only moved ONE person so far. Others will have to be moved due to retirements, etc. So my stress level re: possibly moving has gone way, way up. It's a dumb system, but the upside is that Mr E always has a job. Which is a big upside, I know. Still a dumb system.
Liz: I say every time you encounter this person, you just imagine their toes squishing in the vomit and then you'll have a smile on your face that only you will know the reason for.
And I apologize for how disgusting that is. It is possible that some Baboo has puked in my shoes before. Yes, quite probable.
(((Esperanza)))
What a perfect visualization. I will do it!
I had a cat who preferred puking in shoes to anywhere else.
Oy, Esperanza. Having something as big as a move being left up in the air is terrible -- especially because you have kids. xoxo
But I also love teh visual for Liz. What can I say? This is a prime website for puke-related complaints, so it's perfect. ;)
W: Two hour delay for school tomorrow because ice is predicted 90 MILES away. Seriously. Delay for public school means Mini's preschool is cancelled altogether. Rapidly rewriting to do list.
Good Grief! You all are still here? And still whining? Someone should harness the energy from all this kvetching and turn it into an asteroid protection shield or something.
Anyway, I talked to the fabulous Liz last week and she said I should stop on by. My whines are few and mostly related to the fireplacing winter hellmouth that frickin' Punxsutawney Phil opened last month.
My antiwhine is that my two favorite college basketball teams (UK and UVa) have spent the last 6 weeks or so ranked 1 and 2 in the polls.
Looking forward to catching up with y'all.
DR. CORNDOG! We have missed you! Sorry about the snow; yay for the teams. How are those kids? How ya doing?
We anti-whine, also. And who says we haven't created an asteroid protection shield?
Dr Corndog! So good to see you. Of course we're still whining! Why stop?
YAY DR. CORNDOG!!!! WOOOT!
We got 6-10 inches of snow predicted in our neck of the woods for tomorrow, how about you in the state to my north?
Will this winter never end?
DR CORNDOG!!!!!! Great to hear from you! Yes, the force of the whines is strong here.
Oh esperanza, possible moving whines are a whole other level of whine-age. :(
Another -33 morning here. I am so over this winter.
Sue! Take heart! Both of our forecasts are the same: after tomorrow (you might have one more day of -1 than me), the foreseeable future is filled with highs above freezing.
(Watch this space for Sue and me whining about ice, since the temperature is going to be going above and below freezing every day.)
Welcome back, Dr. Corndog!
Hugs for esperanza. Uncertainty about whether you're going to have to move is always awful, especially when the choice is out of your hands. (Cancellations and delays because of ice forming 90 miles away? This Canadian is amazed.)
Totally ridiculous, even for this Texan. Our county is fully outside of the warning area. At the very least, they could have waited until morning to make the decision.
AW: My little buddy Waylon with the fireplacing cancer, received a bit of good news today. After 28 days of brain and bone radiation, his tumors have disappeared and gotten smaller (shrunk? shrank?). Now on to the high dose chemo next week. Man. But at least it seems to be working.
xoxox Waylon xoxoxo
Forgot to report an anti-whine. Daughter's job is going to you-know, she's looking for the next thing. But meanwhile, she just discovered that a nice animal shelter is really close to work, and they're going to let her do 1/2 hour volunteer shifts!! (This is -- no lie -- the best therapy.)
Thanks for the encouraging forecast QWP! And yes, the freezing/thawing/freezing thing is also not fun.
Hugs and prayers for Waylon. xoxoxo
Yay for the nice animal shelter kathy!! I can totally see how that could be good therapy.
Unbloggable stuff is unbloggable. Now with extra snow
What is with all that snow?
Esperanza, is Waylon in an isolation room? He probably will be with the high dose chemo. When my adopted nephew Alexander was in that situation, there was a window to the room where we could put cards and decorations on the outside. And I also made posters and covered them with clear contact paper, so they could be sanitized and hung inside his room. (But check with the nurses!)
Hospital rooms just look too much like hospital rooms, even on peds units. The kids and I made tons of posters and cards during A's many stays.
Kathy, those are really sweet ideas. And esperanza, that is heartening news about Waylon (although I know it's still a tough path he's on, right now).
You guys. What on earth do you do with an exhausted and grouchy toddler who just will not nap? I'm doing all the things that usually work, and I'm still making sure she at least gets quiet time, but she's driving me up the wall. (Right now, she's napping two or three times a week.)
Wistful: we went to visit some friends today, who live two blocks from Mr.Q's school (and E's future school). It would be perfect for our little family, and they want to put the house on the market this spring. But there's no way on earth we can buy right now. We have no down payment saved up. They'd like a little too much, and the market is on a bit of a downturn. So, now I can't stop thinking about that lovely house, and thinking about the what-ifs.
Remember that they may not be able to sell it right away. See what you can do. At the very least, saving up a down payment for that house will move up the time you can buy a house where you want to be even if it's not that one.
What Liz said, QWP. Housing markets are wonky, but sometimes in exactly the right way. You never know....
W: When I came home earlier, hubby asked if it was still cold out. My response, "No, it's lovely out there now." He checked the temp and it had warmed up to -20C.
That is just wrong.
That is seriously wrong.
Very wrong, on the temps. Warm hugs to everyone in the tundra -- which I think includes the DC area and northward, with possible flashpoints as far south as TX.
Yeah, about the perfect house. Something at least pretty good will turn up around the right time.
I think that someone who is offered a free trip overseas, even from a job that is questionable for the longterm, should count that a blessing. And somebody who needs something printed should not yell at his mama and take over her computer for 40 minutes. harumph.
Corndog! Glad to see your face around these parts! It's benn far too long! How's tricks?
I'm so sorry to hear of your loss, QWP. Cancer takes far too many from us. Sending you hugs!
Liz, I second the vomit visualization -- I may even have to try that myself.
Last night was set build night for my show. The idiot who was holding a heavy wooden flat (wall piece) wasn't paying enough attention, causing the flat to fall, striking me in the head. It was just enough to hurt , swell, and bruise. This comes on top of throwing up 24 times in a 12-hour period on Monday, so when I say "Hell Week", the moniker is apt.
On the plus side, it wasn't worse, and there was no damage to the flat or the lighting tree that got caught up in the fall as well.
Looking forward to opening night. Just wish I had some people coming to see it. Most friends and family don't bother anymore. Makes me a little sad.
Ouch, KLee! Break a leg!
Wildlife report: My cat kept going on a shelf under the microwave last night. Repeatedly. It turned out he was busy chewing a hole in a bag of uncooked rice. ???????
(((KLee))) Ouch on both counts - your injury and your friends/family who don't come to your show. I wish I could be there! Try to visualize all the Pixies in the front row applauding wildly!!
kathy - rice? Not a typical cat thievery item. :)
The cats must have spring fever. Minnie keeps trying to shred the side of a file box in my office. Spot and the rice. The two of them also captured a bowl of instant ramen, and almost got it to the living room. (They didn't get into the ramen itself; but the bowl is so big and light, they treated it like a cat toy.)
Yes, KLee, picture us pixies in the front row, applauding and whistling and screaming our support!
:) Neighbor Lady
p.s. sorry about your head! ouch!
NL, hope y'all are doing OK!
My husband rode his bike to work today. I heard yelling in the street a few minutes ago, and it was some jackass who *followed my husband onto our dead-end street* while yelling -- I heard this at the back end of the house. Apparently he doesn't like bicycles? wtf?
There might or might not be awards tomorrow.
So you have a neighbour who thinks he's entitled to harass bicyclists?! And followed him onto a dead-end street?! How terrifying and terrible!
I haven't had much time to post for the past few days, because I have a toddler who refuses to nap, and who has been a HANDFUL as a result of the tiredness. We put her to bed at 6pm tonight. (You guys: she FELL OUT OF HER CHAIR at lunch because she was so tired, and then immediately after lunch, kept herself awake instead of napping.)
AW: We crunched some numbers, and we may be only two years away from being able to buy a house. That's a lot sooner than I'd previously thought. And there's a (unbloggable) possibility, which would come available around them, and which is much more possible/affordable/financially wise than I'd previously thought. I'm tentatively excited.
Riding a bike in traffic is scary enough without being chased down by a vehicle. How disturbing.
(((QWP))) I'm sorry to hear about the lack of naps. :(
Yay about the number crunching though - it sounds like some exciting possibilities are in the works!
AW: It's WARM here today. As in, hovering around the freezing mark! I am going for a walk later, for sure.
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