UGH. You know how sometimes you can be going about your day, just doing your life like normal and suddenly remember something that happened years ago and be freshly horrified about it?
This morning, I was at work and suddenly remembered that about 15 years ago, a woman from our church told me that she had Porphyria (a terrible blood disorder that ultimately led to her going insane and dying.) When she told me I said "COOL!" because I had never known anyone who had it, and the only thing I knew about it was that it was probably one of the things that created the myth of vampires.
I didn't mean it was actually cool, and even then I knew it was an awful disease, but I...I don't know why I said cool. I guess it was the vampire thing? Maybe? I don't know, but I had successfully blocked the memory because right after I said it I knew what an asshole thing it was to say. THe look on her face, y'all... I'm not even sure what brought the memory back, but I've felt very uncomfortable about it since.
Please know that if you ever get sick and tell me about it, I genuinely do care. If I say something like "COOL!" it's only because my brain hasn't caught up with my heart yet.
via GIPHY
Thursday, March 28, 2019
Tuesday, March 26, 2019
SNICKERS!
Last week we took care of a friend's puppy! It was kind of a mess, in more ways than one, but the mess and biting aside,he was a very sweet puppy.
The puppy belonged to one of Steve's coworkers, and she had gotten the dog (Snickers is what they named him, but don't believe that should be his name*) only a couple of weeks before. They were planning on taking Snickers on vacation with them, but only realized when it was too late that the condo they'd rented had a no-pets policy. Steve offered to let him stay with us, which I was 100% on board with, and so she brought him to us the day before they left. Snickers is a 9 week old yorkie that is roughly the size of a large rat. He was the smallest dog I think I've ever held, and that includes both of my own dogs when they were puppies. We realized, only after getting him home, that Snickers could actually get lost in our house. He also doesn't know his own name yet, so if we did lose track of him, he wouldn't come when he was called, and panic would ensue. I lost him thrice. We tried (unsuccessfully) to barricade him in the living room, just so we'd know for sure where he was, but Snickers is apparently part Yorkie/part ninja, because he could get inside and over almost everything we put in his way, and disappear without a sound.
Y'all, that dog owned me from the second we brought it into the house. He required constant attention, which wasn't terrible because, you know, puppy. He hated when I didn't have him in my lap, or when I got out of his sight. I tried letting him run around while I was doing house things, but I found that when he did that, he was constantly under my feet or going potty in various spots in our house. That was the peeingest dog I've ever met in my life!! He. Peed. Everywhere. He was also very bitey. VERY BITEY. I kind of expected that, because that's what puppies do. They chew on everything, but man, he had tiny, sharp teeth and he chewed on me constantly. He chewed on my necklace, my neck, my hands, my arms, my pants, my hair...anything he could get into his mouth he chewed on. I finally had to find a thick pair of mittens that he couldn't bite through and wear them when I held him. He licked my face raw on one side and would suck on my earlobes. It was weird!
Now, having said all of that, it might sound kind of miserable, but it wasn't at all. I loved him! He was tiny, and he had that sweet puppy smell, and he let me hold him and carry him around. Early in the mornings, he would whine and bark and howl in his tiny puppy way, and I'd get up and hold him on my chest, and he'd go back to sleep and cuddle on me. It was so sweet! We would also sit together in my chair and I'd ask Alexa to play Queen songs, and I swear, the dog loved them. Every time I did that, he'd get really still and doze off when the music was on. Nothing else I played did that to him, just Queen. It seemed to be the only thing that would calm him down!
I sent daily photos to his owner so she'd know he was still alive, and he didn't like to be still long enough to take pictures. He especially didn't like that I would try and put props on him, but he didn't have a choice. See:
The puppy belonged to one of Steve's coworkers, and she had gotten the dog (Snickers is what they named him, but don't believe that should be his name*) only a couple of weeks before. They were planning on taking Snickers on vacation with them, but only realized when it was too late that the condo they'd rented had a no-pets policy. Steve offered to let him stay with us, which I was 100% on board with, and so she brought him to us the day before they left. Snickers is a 9 week old yorkie that is roughly the size of a large rat. He was the smallest dog I think I've ever held, and that includes both of my own dogs when they were puppies. We realized, only after getting him home, that Snickers could actually get lost in our house. He also doesn't know his own name yet, so if we did lose track of him, he wouldn't come when he was called, and panic would ensue. I lost him thrice. We tried (unsuccessfully) to barricade him in the living room, just so we'd know for sure where he was, but Snickers is apparently part Yorkie/part ninja, because he could get inside and over almost everything we put in his way, and disappear without a sound.
Y'all, that dog owned me from the second we brought it into the house. He required constant attention, which wasn't terrible because, you know, puppy. He hated when I didn't have him in my lap, or when I got out of his sight. I tried letting him run around while I was doing house things, but I found that when he did that, he was constantly under my feet or going potty in various spots in our house. That was the peeingest dog I've ever met in my life!! He. Peed. Everywhere. He was also very bitey. VERY BITEY. I kind of expected that, because that's what puppies do. They chew on everything, but man, he had tiny, sharp teeth and he chewed on me constantly. He chewed on my necklace, my neck, my hands, my arms, my pants, my hair...anything he could get into his mouth he chewed on. I finally had to find a thick pair of mittens that he couldn't bite through and wear them when I held him. He licked my face raw on one side and would suck on my earlobes. It was weird!
Now, having said all of that, it might sound kind of miserable, but it wasn't at all. I loved him! He was tiny, and he had that sweet puppy smell, and he let me hold him and carry him around. Early in the mornings, he would whine and bark and howl in his tiny puppy way, and I'd get up and hold him on my chest, and he'd go back to sleep and cuddle on me. It was so sweet! We would also sit together in my chair and I'd ask Alexa to play Queen songs, and I swear, the dog loved them. Every time I did that, he'd get really still and doze off when the music was on. Nothing else I played did that to him, just Queen. It seemed to be the only thing that would calm him down!
I sent daily photos to his owner so she'd know he was still alive, and he didn't like to be still long enough to take pictures. He especially didn't like that I would try and put props on him, but he didn't have a choice. See:
I don't care what anyone says, he was a tiny Wookie.
We finally had to let him go back to his family. I won't lie, as much as I loved him, he was a handful and I was glad to have my life back. However, I do miss him. My mom said that it sounded like what it was like to have grandkids. You love them and miss them when they aren't around, but you don't mind so much when they go back home!
Lots of people have asked me if keeping him made me want to get another dog. People are weirdly invested in my getting another dog for some reason. It didn't, at least not yet. I'm still too sad about our boys being gone. I know we will get another one someday, probably more, but my heart still isn't ready yet! For now, I'll just love as many of other people's pets as I can. I'll get there. :)
*Snickers didn't seem like his actual name. I don't know if it was because he wasn't my dog and I didn't name him, but the name didn't fit. I kept waiting for his "real name" to come to me, and it finally did. That dog's name (Snickers to his family though he may be) is Chewy. Not Chewbacca, regardless of the fact that he was a teacup wookie, but just Chewy. It might have been because of all the actual chewing that he did, but that was the name that I accidentally called him, so I know that's what his real name is.
Monday, March 25, 2019
EXPO WEEKEND
Two weeks ago Amy and her younglings (who are not really that young) came to visit and we went to the Huntsville Comic and Pop Culture Expo!
It's literally been years since Amy and her family came to Huntsville to visit, so we were very glad to see them. Since we were going to be spending the weekend at the Expo, we got hotel rooms at the Embassy Suites, which is attached to the civic center by a walkway, and also is close enough to downtown to walk wherever we needed to go! No Car Weekend! Woo-Hoo!
Everyone got here on Friday night, and we took the opportunity to walk around Big Spring park and talk and chase the ducks around for a while. Pretty much everything was closed by the time we got back, so we retired to regroup the next day for the Expo.
Actually, on our way back to our rooms via the slowest elevators in the history of elevators, I recognized one of the special guests that would be at the Expo. Ming Chen, who is kind of a renaissance man and one of the guys on the show Comic Book Men, a reality show based in a comic book shop in Red Bank, NJ. If you're one of my constant readers, you'll remember that Steve and I visited there when we visited New Jersey. Ming has always been my favorite on that show, but I genuinely didn't expect to see him right in my hotel! I said hello, but was immediately distracted with a dog that came out of one of the elevators (of course) so Steve struck up a conversation with him and had a quick chat. Ming seemed to be a very nice dude, so I'm glad he got to visit with him a bit.
Saturday was the full day we planned to spend at the Expo. Can you believe that I didn't wear a costume? Steve wore a costume, Amy wore one, Kate wore one, but Sean and I just wore our nerdy shirts (Hogwarts Alumni REPRESENT!) I would love to cosplay at a con someday, and to be fair Amy did offer me one of her costumes to wear, but I didn't have the right shoes or have hair and makeup planned. Aside from that, I haven't found a character that I think I look enough like to cosplay as. Granted, I know that isn't really important, but I'd at least like to find someone I kind of favor to dress as! Come on, Hollywood! You need more chubby brunettes with big, brown cow eyes in your sci-fi stuff! Help a sister out.
Anthony met us in the lobby, and we headed into the vendor hall! TBH, that's my favorite part of going to cons. There are so many local artists who can make amazing stuff. I was determined to find something special as a souvenir, and I did, but someone bought it out from under me! I'm so mad! I hesitated! You never hesitate in the vendors hall! UGH! We walked around and enjoyed people watching and browsing. Look, even if you aren't into Sci-Fi or pop culture, and you'd rather chew your own face off than participate at a convention, you should still go sometime. The people watching is so freaking fun, and the costumes on display are very impressive! Although this particular Expo isn't huge, there were still a lot more people there than last year, and the level of participation was impressive. The guests lined the hall, and there were lots of fun people there. Besides Ming Chen, I actually rode in the elevator with one of the best comic cover artists in the business, Arthur Suydam, several of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers were there (and I think the Pink Ranger had the hots for Steve!), voice actors, professional wrestlers that I loved when I was a kid (I met Jake "The Snake" Roberts, and Hacksaw Jim Duggan was there as well) and Gil Gerard (the OG Buck Rogers) was there too, but I didn't get a chance to meet him. Lou Farrigno was also there and that guy is HUGE. I mean, you'd imagine that he'd be big and muscly, but you'd have to see him in person to really appreciate it. It was a lot of fun!
We skipped out in the afternoon to get lunch and coffee (I finally tasted Korean barbecue and it was great!) and we went back to our rooms to rest for a bit, because we were going to a hockey game that night. The game was a lot of fun, and I think it was the first hockey game that Kate and Sean had ever been to. As far as I know, they enjoyed it, which was great! Stupid me, though, had to leave and go back to the room because my allergies were making me very stopped up and dizzy and it was hard to watch the puck go back and forth without wanting to puke. Of course after I left, the Havoc made an amazing shot and won the game and I missed it! BOO! STUPID ALLERGIES!!! Afterwards, we all got together in the hotel restaurant and had dinner before going to bed. It had been a long, but very enjoyable day.
Sunday we got up to do it all over again. :) It was a little less crowded, but no less fun. We walked around and saw and met people. Amy wore an amazing costume of Idris, the female form of the TARDIS, which I covet. :) We didn't spend all day there, though. By that afternoon, everyone was tired and Expoed out, I think, and Amy and the kids had a long drive back home. So we wondered around outside for a bit and then said our goodbyes. It was a great weekend!
It's literally been years since Amy and her family came to Huntsville to visit, so we were very glad to see them. Since we were going to be spending the weekend at the Expo, we got hotel rooms at the Embassy Suites, which is attached to the civic center by a walkway, and also is close enough to downtown to walk wherever we needed to go! No Car Weekend! Woo-Hoo!
Everyone got here on Friday night, and we took the opportunity to walk around Big Spring park and talk and chase the ducks around for a while. Pretty much everything was closed by the time we got back, so we retired to regroup the next day for the Expo.
Actually, on our way back to our rooms via the slowest elevators in the history of elevators, I recognized one of the special guests that would be at the Expo. Ming Chen, who is kind of a renaissance man and one of the guys on the show Comic Book Men, a reality show based in a comic book shop in Red Bank, NJ. If you're one of my constant readers, you'll remember that Steve and I visited there when we visited New Jersey. Ming has always been my favorite on that show, but I genuinely didn't expect to see him right in my hotel! I said hello, but was immediately distracted with a dog that came out of one of the elevators (of course) so Steve struck up a conversation with him and had a quick chat. Ming seemed to be a very nice dude, so I'm glad he got to visit with him a bit.
Saturday was the full day we planned to spend at the Expo. Can you believe that I didn't wear a costume? Steve wore a costume, Amy wore one, Kate wore one, but Sean and I just wore our nerdy shirts (Hogwarts Alumni REPRESENT!) I would love to cosplay at a con someday, and to be fair Amy did offer me one of her costumes to wear, but I didn't have the right shoes or have hair and makeup planned. Aside from that, I haven't found a character that I think I look enough like to cosplay as. Granted, I know that isn't really important, but I'd at least like to find someone I kind of favor to dress as! Come on, Hollywood! You need more chubby brunettes with big, brown cow eyes in your sci-fi stuff! Help a sister out.
Anthony met us in the lobby, and we headed into the vendor hall! TBH, that's my favorite part of going to cons. There are so many local artists who can make amazing stuff. I was determined to find something special as a souvenir, and I did, but someone bought it out from under me! I'm so mad! I hesitated! You never hesitate in the vendors hall! UGH! We walked around and enjoyed people watching and browsing. Look, even if you aren't into Sci-Fi or pop culture, and you'd rather chew your own face off than participate at a convention, you should still go sometime. The people watching is so freaking fun, and the costumes on display are very impressive! Although this particular Expo isn't huge, there were still a lot more people there than last year, and the level of participation was impressive. The guests lined the hall, and there were lots of fun people there. Besides Ming Chen, I actually rode in the elevator with one of the best comic cover artists in the business, Arthur Suydam, several of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers were there (and I think the Pink Ranger had the hots for Steve!), voice actors, professional wrestlers that I loved when I was a kid (I met Jake "The Snake" Roberts, and Hacksaw Jim Duggan was there as well) and Gil Gerard (the OG Buck Rogers) was there too, but I didn't get a chance to meet him. Lou Farrigno was also there and that guy is HUGE. I mean, you'd imagine that he'd be big and muscly, but you'd have to see him in person to really appreciate it. It was a lot of fun!
We skipped out in the afternoon to get lunch and coffee (I finally tasted Korean barbecue and it was great!) and we went back to our rooms to rest for a bit, because we were going to a hockey game that night. The game was a lot of fun, and I think it was the first hockey game that Kate and Sean had ever been to. As far as I know, they enjoyed it, which was great! Stupid me, though, had to leave and go back to the room because my allergies were making me very stopped up and dizzy and it was hard to watch the puck go back and forth without wanting to puke. Of course after I left, the Havoc made an amazing shot and won the game and I missed it! BOO! STUPID ALLERGIES!!! Afterwards, we all got together in the hotel restaurant and had dinner before going to bed. It had been a long, but very enjoyable day.
Sunday we got up to do it all over again. :) It was a little less crowded, but no less fun. We walked around and saw and met people. Amy wore an amazing costume of Idris, the female form of the TARDIS, which I covet. :) We didn't spend all day there, though. By that afternoon, everyone was tired and Expoed out, I think, and Amy and the kids had a long drive back home. So we wondered around outside for a bit and then said our goodbyes. It was a great weekend!
Tuesday, March 05, 2019
EVEN MORE RANDOM ACTS OF BLOGGING
1) I find myself a little blue these days.
Don't worry, I'm not going to detail my own issues, but I am finding that many other people I care about are going through such awful things right now and there's nothing I can do for them. It makes me feel helpless and like there isn't a lot of good happening anywhere.
That's stupid, I know, because there's always good, but it feels far away and I can't seem to find many silver linings these days. Every time I turn around, something else bad is happening. Literally, I keep getting bad news about people I care about. I also find myself feeling this weird mixture of being very glad and being jealous of other people who seem to be moving forward and accomplishing important things and being happy. I don't want to feel like that. I just want to feel the happy for them part.
Anyway, enough of that. I'll work through it, but it feels hard right now. I feel dumb for feeling like I do because other people have it so much worse. I know life doesn't suck completely, though, and I'll prove it!
2) I've been looking through the photos that are available on my Facebook page, because sometimes I like to check and see what other people see if they happen to be looking for me. I'm beginning to wonder if it looks like I am in some kind of polyamorous relationship with Steve and Anthony because we are always together! We hardly go anywhere without him. That's fine with me and not a complaint, but for the casual observer, I wonder how that looks.
I mean, I like Anthony a great deal, but no. That...that...no. Haha!
3) Speaking of Anthony: he, Steve, another friend that was in Spain with us and I (God help my grammar on that) went to a curling class! We'd been trying to get into one of those classes for a couple of months, but they were always full. We finally got in one, and it was so much fun!
Granted, curling is a strange thing for people in southern states to do, since there is very little ice, but there is a curling club and they give lessons every month or so to get people interested in forming teams for their league.
I knew nothing about the sport going in, except for the little bit I watched during the Olympics, but we learned a lot about it in the short time that we were there. I know why it's called curling, now, and I know that I suck at sweeping, because I am not fast enough to keep up with the stone, but I'm fairly good (balance aside) at throwing it! I got to be the "hammer" for our team when we played a round after the preliminary lesson, and I was one of only two people to manage to get the stone all the way across the ice. I did fall on my face a lot, but that was part of the fun! We plan on going back and taking the next level of lessons on the 30th, which will teach us about it in more detail. I don't think we'll be joining a league or anything, but it's a lot of fun to play around and learn about it! I'm excited about going back!
Just FYI, the sport was developed in Scotland. I thought it was a Canadian thing. Also, there is drinking involved, but I abstained and you all know very well why. :)
4) Our church basement flooded a little over a week ago! We were pounded with almost 12 inches of rain over a few days, and the sump pump in the basement wasn't working properly and there was two or three inches of water down there! It was a mess, but once the pump was fixed and the water wasn't continuously coming in, a bunch of people came in and cleaned it out. Not me, haha, but others!
A reporter from the local news saw our Facebook page and wanted to do a story about the church flooding. I know it was supposed to be a fluffy, feel good piece about people working together and all of that, but the pastor said no. He wasn't interested. I waited until I heard back from him before I answered her (I'm the page admin and get the messages) and I was as polite as I could be telling her that he was not interested, but damn, she was tenacious. I know reporters have to be like that, but for what she was wanting to do a story on, it seemed a bit much. She finally left me alone, but I thought I was going to have to get aggressive. I'm sure her journalism teacher would have been proud of her!
5) There's a slim chance we might be going to Germany with the band next year. I hope so! I haven't been there yet. There are still so many places I'd like to go!
Don't worry, I'm not going to detail my own issues, but I am finding that many other people I care about are going through such awful things right now and there's nothing I can do for them. It makes me feel helpless and like there isn't a lot of good happening anywhere.
That's stupid, I know, because there's always good, but it feels far away and I can't seem to find many silver linings these days. Every time I turn around, something else bad is happening. Literally, I keep getting bad news about people I care about. I also find myself feeling this weird mixture of being very glad and being jealous of other people who seem to be moving forward and accomplishing important things and being happy. I don't want to feel like that. I just want to feel the happy for them part.
Anyway, enough of that. I'll work through it, but it feels hard right now. I feel dumb for feeling like I do because other people have it so much worse. I know life doesn't suck completely, though, and I'll prove it!
2) I've been looking through the photos that are available on my Facebook page, because sometimes I like to check and see what other people see if they happen to be looking for me. I'm beginning to wonder if it looks like I am in some kind of polyamorous relationship with Steve and Anthony because we are always together! We hardly go anywhere without him. That's fine with me and not a complaint, but for the casual observer, I wonder how that looks.
I mean, I like Anthony a great deal, but no. That...that...no. Haha!
3) Speaking of Anthony: he, Steve, another friend that was in Spain with us and I (God help my grammar on that) went to a curling class! We'd been trying to get into one of those classes for a couple of months, but they were always full. We finally got in one, and it was so much fun!
Granted, curling is a strange thing for people in southern states to do, since there is very little ice, but there is a curling club and they give lessons every month or so to get people interested in forming teams for their league.
I knew nothing about the sport going in, except for the little bit I watched during the Olympics, but we learned a lot about it in the short time that we were there. I know why it's called curling, now, and I know that I suck at sweeping, because I am not fast enough to keep up with the stone, but I'm fairly good (balance aside) at throwing it! I got to be the "hammer" for our team when we played a round after the preliminary lesson, and I was one of only two people to manage to get the stone all the way across the ice. I did fall on my face a lot, but that was part of the fun! We plan on going back and taking the next level of lessons on the 30th, which will teach us about it in more detail. I don't think we'll be joining a league or anything, but it's a lot of fun to play around and learn about it! I'm excited about going back!
Just FYI, the sport was developed in Scotland. I thought it was a Canadian thing. Also, there is drinking involved, but I abstained and you all know very well why. :)
4) Our church basement flooded a little over a week ago! We were pounded with almost 12 inches of rain over a few days, and the sump pump in the basement wasn't working properly and there was two or three inches of water down there! It was a mess, but once the pump was fixed and the water wasn't continuously coming in, a bunch of people came in and cleaned it out. Not me, haha, but others!
A reporter from the local news saw our Facebook page and wanted to do a story about the church flooding. I know it was supposed to be a fluffy, feel good piece about people working together and all of that, but the pastor said no. He wasn't interested. I waited until I heard back from him before I answered her (I'm the page admin and get the messages) and I was as polite as I could be telling her that he was not interested, but damn, she was tenacious. I know reporters have to be like that, but for what she was wanting to do a story on, it seemed a bit much. She finally left me alone, but I thought I was going to have to get aggressive. I'm sure her journalism teacher would have been proud of her!
5) There's a slim chance we might be going to Germany with the band next year. I hope so! I haven't been there yet. There are still so many places I'd like to go!
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