Sleepin' City Sidewalks

Kenny went to Atlantic City and all I got was this lousy house to clean. Is that a t-shirt slogan? Because it should be. That seems to be the M.O. as of late - he goes on gaming jaunts and I stay home and try to organize and clean the homestead. That's a pretty crappy deal, if you ask me. But apparently no one asked me. Well, in all honesty, Kenny did ask me to go on the trip with him, and I declined yet another gambling venture - we were just in Vegas 2 weeks ago, for cryin' out loud. I'm trying to get financially ahead for 2008, and every-other-week gambling doesn't help that plan.

So here I sit, checking projects off the to-do list. It's not going very quickly because I am very easily distracted and take frequent breaks to blog, watch bad television, read articles in The Readers Digest, and walk Timmy's dog, Lady. I did get one big thing accomplished, in spite of my frequent procrastination techniques. I finally touched up the paint in the living and dining room - hooray! It wasn't hard, but even the smallest task becomes a project when opening a can of paint is involved. I mainly had to touch up around the new thermostat, and then some small miscellaneous scuffs in various spots. In the words of J. Peterman, "Here's to a job, done!"


I also made a big pot of potato soup (not on the list, but I still had that giant bag of potatoes to use from Sam's Club), and then I cleaned out the freezer to make room to store the soup containers. I've also been hauling stuff to the basement and sorting through the endless piles of mail we receive. I hung a cute Longaberger basket on the wall in the kitchen to hopefully keep better track of the important stuff that needs to be addressed. Time will tell how that method works, or if it just becomes one more place to pile junk.

I found this picture of Twinkle giving my nose a very hard chomp from 2005 or so. He loves chomping a nose - and it hurts, let me tell you!

Nothing makes a gal feel quite as old as the hoops I've had to jump through in order to sign up for my long-term disability benefits at work. Since I've turned forty-fucking-one, they won't just let me sign up for the 66 2/3% pay replacement option. I had to fill out a thick questionnaire, indicating every ailment or malady along with full addresses of all my doctors. This I have now had to do twice. Not sure what happened to it the first time, but I know I sent it off. Work benefits will let me have the 50% pay replacement option on the long-term disability, but they want to know the status of all my bodily parts before they agree to the extra 16 and 2/3rd's percentage. No wonder people bitch about getting older. Rob knows, and he hasn't even hit 40 yet, but he woke up one day and had a searing leg twinge. That's how it happens, my friend, that's how it happens. I can wake up injured after a night of sleep in a very comfortable bed. Go figure.

I've revised my New Year's Resolutions once again. Now my focus is to try one new thing per month. It can be something simple, such as a new restaurant experience, or something complex, such as learning a new skill. I'm going to create a running checklist so I can track my progress. I think it seems pretty fun and will force me to step out of my comfort zone and stay fresh and stimulated.

My friend Katie and I are going to see His Holiness The Dalai Lama in April. He'll be in Ann Arbor, so we're making it a fun-filled trip on our quest for spiritual renewal. Or something like that. But I'm excited, I think it will be pretty cool to be in the presence of His Holiness. Would it be wrong to bar-hop and gamble the night before??

The girls and I have a movie night scheduled for this coming week. It's really nice to get that back in the rotation - we kinda fell out of that habit. We're going to see 27 Dresses. I have been toying with the idea of starting a Supper Club, which would be a borrowed idea from some people at work. It sounds fun, a diverse group tries a new restaurant every month. I could start my own diverse group and see what happens - plus it would be rather fun to try some fancy restaurants in the area. I am really ready to get some new fun things on the agenda for 2008.

My dog Whitey has been gone since 2005, and while I miss him still, I have gotten quite accustomed to not having dog responsibilities. Which is what makes it even harder with Tim & Ken gone this weekend, since I'm on dog-duty. Lady Dog loves me and loves coming upstairs to visit, but it's a lot of work that, frankly, my lazy ass just isn't used to any more! I hate early morning and late night walks when it's cold outside!

This is actually the first time in many-a-year that I haven't had to bother with a lot of pet responsibilities. I had the dog, who wasn't sick or anything, but required daily attention. Then I had Grey Cat with her thyroid medication twice a day, and Newfie with her daily insulin needs. I am hoping to just have a few more years before anyone else gets sick! It would be nice to just have cats that aged without problems, but we'll see if that really happens for me. Twink had a cold this week and I was worried. I always worry about his breathing anyway, he had such a severe respiratory infection when I found him that I anticipate problems with his lungs at some point. By the way, I know that's a pretty crappy picture of Whitey, and it's rather a shame that I don't have better ones. That's what ya get from a camera phone sometimes. But it's better than none, I guess.

Well, it's 9:00 a.m. on a Sunday morning and I've already been outdoors to walk Lady. The smell and the feel of a still Sunday morning never fails to make these lyrics run through my head, from an old Kris Kristofferson song:

Well I woke up Sunday morning,
With no way to hold my head that didn't hurt.

And the beer I had for breakfast wasn't bad,

So I had one more for dessert.

Then I fumbled through my closet for my clothes,

And found my cleanest dirty shirt.

An' I shaved my face and combed my hair,

An' stumbled down the stairs to meet the day.

Then I crossed the empty street,

'n caught the Sunday smell of someone fryin' chicken.

And it took me back to somethin',

That I'd lost somehow, somewhere along the way.

On the Sunday morning sidewalk, I'm Wishing, Lord, that I was stoned.

'Cos there's something in a Sunday,Makes a body feel alone.

And there's nothin' short of dyin',

Half as lonesome as the sound,

On the sleepin' city sidewalks:Sunday mornin' comin' down.

Maybe it's because my mom used to make fried chicken on Sunday. Not every Sunday, but often enough that I associate Sunday's and fried chicken. And cold winter Sundays with a big pot of chili and homemade greasy potato pancakes - yum! Early morning Sunday's smell like that to me.

Well, I don't want to squander my day, I have big plans to finish straightening and organizing the living room (seems like I do that absolutely every week, where in the hell does this shit come from???), heading to the gym to make the Pilates Reformer my bee-yotch, then possibly to see Atonement. I also have some returns to make to Sephora, but that may or may not happen.

Meggan's celebrating a birthday Monday the 21st - Happy Birthday, Meggan!!

Peace, and enjoy your week - you can't get the time back, so make the most of it while it's here!