Internet User from Hell and Other Random Notes

I have been doing my Internet stuff from the library of late for various reasons. I am currently checking e-mails, blogs, and catching up. The guy next to me though is trying to kill me. In the last 14 minutes, I have heard at least twenty questions from his mouth to the library lady about all sorts of what I consider asinine questions. She really doesn't have control over the American Airlines website. The great thing about the library is that it should be quiet. All one should hear is the tapping of computer keys and the flipping of pages, not the, "Oh, shoot, " and mumbling that is exiting this man's mouth! Sorry, I know this is a bit of a tirade, but really.

This Thanksgiving weekend was good. We played the annual football game. Not to toot my own horn, but I actually represented myself well on the field - even if I am still sore. I think the older I get the more important I realize stretching is, but the less inclined I am to do it because it makes me feel old. The game was small, but it always amazes me how ten years can change so many things, while a lot of things remain the same. Part of me wonders why we haven't changed, while I am happy that it is like old times.

Quick Internet note: the librarian is now using the other side of the library in a quest to avoid the annoying guy next to me.

For those who wish to know, winter has come to Wisconsin. Although I am not going to soliloquize as long on winter as I long as I have on other seasons, I would like to share that I am excited that winter is here. I feel that it is official since we had the first snow that stuck last Wednesday. In addition, I have always decided, regardless of the weather, that winter commences when the flannel sheets go on the bed. Wednesday night found me eagerly jumping into a bed with flannel sheets.

Winter in Wisconsin I feel is like a contest. I have tried to make this contest one that I can endure with the greatest of ease. This means that I can only do certain things when certain conditions exist. First condition, no flannel sheets to Thanksgiving. Then, a slew of other methods to beat the cold ensue along a marked path: implementation of electronic blanket, use of hot water bottle, and piling of extra down comforter on the bed. Only the coldest nights find all in use, but shivering, I make it through.

My dad the other day (Saturday) asked me if I thought we were going to have one last warm up. I looked at him with incredulously, I don't understand how he didn't get the memo that winter is here. I mean my flannel sheets are on the bed, what more is there to say?

Internet update: Dang it! She got sucked in again. I have to get out of here.

Total Boredom

I am currently working. Since this week has been slow at the store, I knew Saturday (a day we don't do a lot of business) was also going to be slow. So, I bought a lot of stuff to work on to keep me entertained. I have currently been here for just over two hours and have managed to get pretty close to caught up on journaling, have purchased Christmas presents for my sister and brother-in-law, and also found what my dad mentioned he wanted for Christmas (just waiting to receive a call from my mom to confirm his really wanting it - he still hasn't used the Ove Glove I got him last Christmas? or two years ago - another present he said he wanted).


The boredom has also spread to eating. I have been subbing a lot lately; thus, my body thinks it is normal to eat lunch at 10.30. I avoided heating up my pork chop, noodles and apricots by eating a chocolate chip cookie.

So, three and a half hours to go.

Is it Wierd?

My sister and I have a special way to buy presents for one another. Our birthdays are eleven days apart; thus, starting a couple of years ago, we came to the agreement of "We will call it even," saving us the trouble of trying to figure out what to get the other.

Regarding Christmas, we usually do something very sneaky. This is how this Christmas purchases have gone thus far. She called me, and we talked for about forty minutes, catching up on job stuff, dog stories, her expanding belly, and life in general. After a little bit, she inquires, "You need to start thinking what you want for Christmas, have you any ideas?"

"Well, actually Bonnie and Kyle were laughing at me the other day because when Bonnie asked me what I wanted, I told her that the only thing I knew I wanted for sure was a food scale."

Side note: When I told Bonnie, she first of all commented that I must be such a fun person to buy things for, but hey I am all about practicality, and it really annoys me when a recipe calls for so many ounces of pasta and I don't know how to measure it. I mean 8 oz to a cup, but how do you cram spaghetti into a cup. I know it is sad, but I had already gone to Target and figured that at $5, it was a realistic gift idea for me. I purposely avoided buying it for myself so someone else could give it to me, and I wouldn't get yelled at by another family member for being so hard to buy for.

"I am going to IKEA tonight, do you want to me to get you one?"

"If it looks cool and is about $5."

"Okay."

The next day I found something that I thought Mike might like. I actually found it a couple of months ago and put it on the "things to consider buying for Christmas" list. Wanting to make sure he liked it, I sent a quick e-mail to my sister asking her to check it out. At the same time, I asked her what she wanted.

I received an e-mail back saying the gift looked good for Mike, and a list of a couple of things my sister wanted. A few minutes later, I had everything ordered. Plus, to save myself carting it out to Portland, I sent it to my sister's right away so if there is any baby related stuff we need to bring, I will have that much extra room. So, head's up Jen, your presents are on the way the label says to hold them for me.

I don't know when this exactly started. I remember the clearest example a couple of Christmases ago (how do you pluralize that?) where I told my sister a few requirements for what I wanted. 1. I wanted a pair of slip on shoes. 2. They had to be unique and funky looking. 3. I didn't want them to cost more than $20-25. A week later, I ended up giving her the exact pair of shoes that I had managed to find on a website. It wasn't much of a surprise, but it was exactly what I wanted. Besides everyone comments about how cool the shoes are.

Recent Readings

I haven't written about what I have read in quite a while, so I thought I would make a couple quick comments.

First of all, on the cusp of finishing Three Weeks with My Brother, I have a whole new appreciation for Sparks as a person and a writer. I am so impressed, that I am contemplating reading some of the stuff that he is better known for: A Walk to Remember, The Notebook, The Guardian, and Message in a Bottle.

I would recommend this book to anyone, especially if you tend to find the movies spun off from his books as cheesy and unrealistic as I do.

A Thousand Splendid Suns was good. I am in no way dismissing it; however, if you are torn between this and Kiterunner, there is no contest, Kiterunner is, by far, the better novel.

Oh, if you have any recommendations, I would love to know what you think is good to read. In all honesty, I am procrastinating, Atlas Shrugged is a little daunting due to the fact I could kill a man with how big it is.

Mars, Venus and Jupiter, too.

It has been a couple of weeks now since I got some news. I think that is the main reason I haven't posted in so long. I still just don't know what to say, what to think, what to do. I have just been processing through all of the information, my thoughts, feelings, life ramifications.

And after weeks of thinking, I haven't come to a conclusion about the whole thing. I don't think I ever will. While Truth is never mercurial, truth is sometimes difficult to find, buried under people's perspectives - both mental and geographical. Also, truths are sometimes difficult to reconcile with one another. Can a and b both be true when they seem to be utterly contradictory? When does experience color and change truth?

I don't know.