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I am like the busy bee

The best thing since sliced bread

October 11, 2012 by Zannah 2 Comments

Dear Internet,

Why are you so big?  You make it very hard for me to keep up some weeks.  Don’t misunderstand; I’m THRILLED you’re as big as you are because that means there’s always something new to find.  Lately, though, I don’t have time during the day, and I don’t have the energy after work.  I’m missing out on so much.  I haven’t visited my bloggy buddies (I think I’m stealing that from Wombat – Wombat, can I steal this please?) in forever, and I certainly don’t mean to neglect them.  Some evenings I open tabs for all of my favorite websites and I still don’t get to them all.  Also, why does WordPress insist that I’m misspelling favorite?  Also, why is “Moves Like Jagger” allowed to be used in commercials?  I’ve managed to avoid hearing it for weeks and weeks, but now it’s back and stuck in my brain.  Also also, if happy little bluebirds fly beyond the rainbow, why, oh why can’t I?  That may help with my song-stuck-in-brain syndrome.

Oh, wait, this is a letter.

Affectionately,

Zannah

What? I love the internet.

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Posted in: all the tired in the world, I am like the busy bee, I don't have it in me, more inane than usual, pondering the big questions

Anatomy of a three-day weekend

October 7, 2012 by Zannah Leave a Comment

We’re* two-thirds through a three-day weekend.  Already.  And poor John doesn’t have tomorrow off.  Of course, he gets the week between Christmas and New Year’s off, so I don’t feel that sorry for him.  We had a good couple of days together.  Yesterday was all about the yard.  We got up early, grabbed breakfast, picked up 16 bags of dirt from Home Depot (I think it was our shortest trip to Home Depot ever), scooped and mowed the back yard, raked up the bare spots, put down dirt and seed, put up temporary fencing, blocked the dogs from getting under the deck (and sneaking into the new dirt that’s calling out for digging), and mowed the front yard.  All before 2pm.  We were really rushing at one point because it looked like the skies were about to open and we didn’t want to get soaked.  False alarm.  That must have been the cold front coming through, though, because the temperature dropped pretty quickly after that.

Today has been chilly and damp.  A perfect day to go to the Waterford Fair!  We got all dressed up in our hiking-in-Wales attire (so called because that’s why we bought that stuff – boots and coats and hats) and headed to lovely historic Waterford, which had been taken over by Civil War reenactors (is that really a word?) and craftspeople for the weekend.  John carried his umbrella around the whole time, so it didn’t rain on us.  We tramped all over town (it’s not very big), shared a hot dog, some mac and cheese, some hot chocolate, and a funnel cake, met some chickens and puppies and sheep, listened to a couple of bluegrass bands, and took care of birthday presents for John’s mom (a little late) and Gaby (early for once, if I can manage to ship it soon).

Tomorrow I plan to clean out some closets.  I have shoes and clothes to get rid of, and I need to clear out the linen closet and the cabinet in my bathroom.  That might be too ambitious for one day, since I also plan to make a quick run to the mall, but we’ll see how far I get.  I’ll be up early since John has to get up for work, so that should help.

Dinner is wine and bread and olive oil.  I’m kinda surprised I’m feeling hungry now, after all that food at Waterford, but that was 3 or 4 hours ago…

*”What’s this we bullshit?”  -John

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Posted in: food, house, I am like the busy bee, John, music, yard

In need of emphasis

August 20, 2012 by Zannah 1 Comment

I spent all day today with my personal tachometer pegged at, like, 8000 rpm (or whatever is really high).  What do I know?  I drive an automatic.  Red-lined is what I mean.  And that includes my commute home, when you’d think I could take some time to breathe, and when I was actually sitting in a car going 30 miles per hour (at most).  It wasn’t until I sat down to eat that I slowed down.  It wasn’t a bad day, just long and very busy.  I didn’t even realize I’d been racing all day until I walked into the house.  Now I’m home and fed and I’m going to have maybe a third of a cookie and some milk (it’s a really big cookie) and then go to bed and start all over again tomorrow.

For me, tomorrow means more of the same, but Emily and Corey have just embarked on brand new…things.  I’m not sure what word to use there.  “Brand new chapters” sounds ridiculous, and “brand new lives” sounds too momentous.  I mean, their happenings ARE momentous, but it’s not like they’re changing everything…okay, fine.  It’s a VERY big deal.  And it does change a LOT.  I mean, Emily just moved to a new apartment in a new city and started a new job today (and apparently her first day went well).  And today was Corey’s first day of law school, for heaven’s sake, which seems to have scared him to death.  He may bury himself so deep into his books that I won’t be able to talk to him for three years.  So maybe “brand new lives” isn’t such an overstatement.  (Also, I’m not sure why Corey starting law school required a “for heaven’s sake”, but it seemed appropriate.  I think it’s really cool, and even though law school has never appealed to me all that much, going back to school full time sounds lovely.)

Oh, cookie cookie cookie starts with c.

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Posted in: family, I am like the busy bee, I'm not going to talk about work, stress

Full-on-last-minute-what-haven’t-I-done-yet-pre-trip panic

May 17, 2012 by Zannah 1 Comment

I haven’t mentioned it much here, but we’re about to go on vacation.  We’re supposed to have internet in our cottage, but we were supposed to have internet in our cottage in Wales last year, too, and that just didn’t happen.  So either I’ll be able to post intermittently over the next week and a half or I’ll be completely silent until Memorial Day.  We’ll see.  I just wanted you all to be prepared because I know how much you rely on me to start (or finish) every day.  You just can’t get along without me, right?  Right?

I think we should live somewhere where we can legitimately call our house a cottage without getting laughed at.  I would like to live in a cottage.

Anyway, Mom called me yesterday evening to discuss when and where she and Dad are going to pick us up on Saturday, and that conversation kick-started my pre-trip hyperventilation* because you know what?  I hadn’t even THOUGHT about that.  I got off the phone and fluttered around the house for a couple of minutes, wondering how stupid it might be to take two hours out of my last useful 5 or 6 hours (not counting working and sleeping) to go to the gym for my fun classes.  Reason and sanity eventually won out.  There wasn’t THAT much to do and exercise and yoga would be good for me, especially in that state.  I came home from the gym much calmer and I managed to get to bed (packing about halfway done) before I could think too much about what I hadn’t finished yet.  This morning, though – the countdown had begun and I was climbing the walls.  WHY was I going to work?  WHY wasn’t I packed already?  I hadn’t arranged for a cab to pick us up, I still needed to pick up some prescription refills, the dogs have to get to the kennel, I needed to pick up an adapter from Best Buy, I haven’t FINISHED PACKING YET, and oh yeah, I have to go to work and actually WORK.  (Sorry about the caps.  It’s been that kind of day.)  To make matters worse (as pointed out by Corey, Brother of the Year), I went to Starbucks.  Sure, let’s fuel the crazy with espresso.  Makes all kinds of sense.  So I rocketed into the office and my work day, made three or four more lists (mostly work, some trip), crossed everything off in record time, and all I have to do now is set my automatic out-of-office message and go home so I can cross the last four things off my trip list (one of them – finish packing – has a list of its own).  Surprisingly, the tension ebbed as the day went on.  I got enough of a head start this morning (maybe thanks to the coffee?) that I feel pretty normal now.  My vacation is about to begin.

*The author reserves the right to exaggerate for effect.  No brown paper bags were harmed in the making of this post.

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Posted in: but not in a good way, I am like the busy bee, lists, stress, time to relax, travel, vacation

But I want to do all these things

April 28, 2012 by Zannah Leave a Comment

They say money can’t buy happiness.  I say they’re liars.  I can think of a number of ways a nice BIG cash windfall could make me very happy.  For starters, if it meant I didn’t have to work, I’d have all the time in the world to do all the things I want to do.  As it is, our weekends get over-scheduled in the blink of an eye, and then when we want to squeeze something else in, there’s no time.  And it’s not like we don’t want to do the stuff we’ve already planned.  For various reasons (seeing friends, doing homework for classes we chose to take, visiting family, hosting family), we really do.  I just want MORE TIME.  I know – everyone does.  I’ll shut up.

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Posted in: general, I am like the busy bee, pondering the big questions
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