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Trees and peeves || 12.09.03

Sunday was a really good day. The boys let me sleep until noon.

Close your mouth. Yeah, I was stunned too.

In fact, they even cleaned the living room AND moved a bookshelf out of there into Kimo's room to make space for our Christmas tree.

Damn, wouldja quit fainting??

Of course, they DID have ulterior motives. Yep yep, my little angels know how to work that trick very well.

See, I had told them that we wouldn't be putting up a Christmas tree until they got the living room cleaned up.

Huh? Why them? Because THEY messed it up. Not me. Nope. It was all their crap. I'm sorry, but I have enough to do around here by myself to be expected to clean up their toys, Yu-Gi-Oh! (watch the google hits fly) cards and dirty socks ... yes! dirty socks. Ugh.

Add to this the fact that I promised them we'd get a new tree this year - a fiber optic one that they've had their eye on.

So hell yeah, they were angels for the day (for the most part).

We ended up having to go to two different Wally Worlds to get the tree, as they were out of them at the first one we went to. The harried but jovial girl working in the Christmas area called the other store across town and asked if they had any left. When she said they had two left I told her to let them know I was on my way. They took my name and stuck one behind the register to hold it for us. :)

When we got to the second store the little guy working that area was just as nice as could be. People were swarming that area, but somehow this guy managed to not get stressed at all. He carried the box around and put it in the cart for me and asked the boys if they were going to decorate the tree that night. The kids, of course, looked like bobble head dolls nodding yes in their rush of excitement.

After getting it home and put together � which was a snap � we went through the box of ornaments pulling out old favorites. The kids wanted to know the significance of each ornament and delighted finding theirs in the nest of bubble wrap and tissue paper. I had let them each pick out a new ornament for the tree, cuz that's our little tradition. I bet lots of people have that one, huh?

Once everything was put on the tree, then the lights had to be turned off of course so we could oooo and ahhh at the pretty colors. Yeah, we're simple, but it was fun.

Monday was fun too. Mom and I went Christmas shopping again. She took me to a new store here in town and after being in there for a full 15 minutes I decided that it is indeed my new favorite store. They had some of the coolest stuff and Mom got tickled at me. I swear my inner 6 year old came out.

"Oh Mom! Buy me this. I reaaaaaaally want it."

"Ok, forget *that* buy me *this* instead. Yesss I'm sure."

"No! Wait! THIS is what I absolutely have to have!"

Why yes, as a matter of fact I did have to be reminded that we were there to shop for other people.

I did manage to get a new pair of pen-ga-win* jammies out of the deal though. *triumphant grin* Mom loves me lots!

*yes, I know the word is penguin, but sometimes the penguins I find are sooo cute they need a different name, therefore pen-ga-win.

The shopping was cut short due to the fact that while I wasn't paying attention someone used a staple gun to attach my right ovary to my abdominal wall, making every step and every shift in stance feel like my insides were being ripped apart. I musta been really distracted because apparently at the same time that was going on someone else took the opportunity to sprinkle ground glass across my lower back muscles making standing upright a teeth grinding experience. So between my ovary wanting me to be stooped over and my back refusing to play that little game I was having a rough time.

Mother Nature is such a bitch sometimes, yanno.

So we wrapped up shopping early and I was home by 1 pm, even skipping a free lunch just so I could get home to Tylenol and my bed. Today things are a little better but umm I reserve the right to change my mind about that declaration as the day wears on.

I've got some more work to do for the Mm magazine and I'm so excited about it. I'm using a new to me technique in Photo Shop, and I'm learning how to fit pictures together on a page, so not only am I working, I'm learning as well, which is too cool in my book.

But I swear if one more person asks me how much I'm getting paid I'm gonna bitch slap them. The main reason is that really it's rude as hell, dontcha think? I mean, do these same people also ask salespeople and waitstaff or even other friends how much THEY make? If a friend tells them about a new job they landed, is the first question out of their mouth "How much do you make?" Hells bells, I was always under the impression that that is a very rude question to ask someone. I've never in my life asked someone how much they get paid. I've asked one person about the normal fees for some of the work she does, but that's because I was being offered the same type of work and needed to know what was a reasonable and fair amount. I didn't say "Hey, how much do you make" just for the hell of it. Gawd.

No, I don't work outside my house. Yes, I have the incredible freedom to work pretty much on my own timetable. Yep, as a matter of fact, I have been known to open a chat program and chitchat with others while working if the project at hand isn't requiring my complete attention. But how the hell people take those facts and come up with the conclusion that what I'm doing doesn't demand the same etiquette just because I don't work in some cubicle in the business district is beyond me. Do they somehow think those things mean that my job isn't valid in someway, therefore negating all the rules of common courtesy?

Apparently so.

When I confront people about it, I get �Oh well, I'm just curious.� Why is my pay scale such an interesting topic? Or I hear, and this one chaps my ass the most, �I just wanted to make sure you aren't being taken advantage of.�

*blink*

Now, while I appreciate the umm concern behind that statement, it also sends a message to me that "Hey, I don't trust that you can make sure you aren't taken advantage of."

Now c'mon folks, I may be new to this whole graphics for hire concept, and I'll admit to ya'll that sometimes I'm baffled about what to charge, but I'm not a complete neophyte to the business world. Trust me folks, if X can't take advantage of me, no one can. So if I ask for your opinion, please give it. If I don't ask and you give it anyway and I ignore it, deal with it. Otherwise, trust me. And stop asking me how much I am making. It is MY business, in both senses of the word, afterall.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In other news, we have a mouse roaming in the house. I have been hearing the scratching noises for a couple of nights now and last night I saw it. ICK! Can it be a cute widdle mousie? Oh HELL no. We get blessed with a big ol' ugly one. I swear to god ya'll, if this sucker was any bigger I�d swear it was a rat. *shudder* So I'm off to buy mousetraps, although it's gonna be interesting trying to keep Jasper's paws and nose out of them since I have to put them in the kitchen and that's where his water and food dish is. Maybe I'll set them tonight and barricade he and I in my room. Hopefully the mouse is stupid and gets himself caught quickly.

Very quickly.

So I can sleep.

Jasper was under the bed last night after I saw the mouse. I was sitting on the bed and felt the bed jostle just a fraction and I swear to gawd I damn near leapt out of it screaming.

Yeah, it was just Jaspy wiggling around beneath it, but dammit, in the still of the night it felt exactly like the mattress shift caused by something small and light leaping onto the bed. I definitely pulled a Weetabix and sprang a foot and a half off the bed.

Wonder if she'll loan me her cat? No wait, scratch that idea. (No pun intended.) Her cat wasn't the great mouse hunter Weet had expected it to be. No, I need heavier artillery.

I'm guessing a .357 is overkill here, huh?

Yeah I thought so too, but damn, last night when I was jumping at every little sound I sure didn't.

Quit laughing.

Until next time~
bisa

P.S. The game isn't what I expected, and that frustrates the hell out of me.




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