it beats the hell out of doing laundry

Tuesday, February 28, 2006

things and stuff

you know you love the bulleted lists!

  • been busy getting shit done for the 60bugs website. MB has been awesome and i think we are pretty dang close.
  • internet, have i told you lately that i love you? well, when you lead someone from montana through flickr to me to order a "more cowbell!" baby tee, I REALLY DO. my first order from someone i don't know! it's feeling real now, folks. e-commerce! woohoo!
  • natey's talking has exploded in the most awesome ways. it's adorable. we have also stopped the physical therapy because the kid is running like nobody's business. this makes me very happy.
  • we got paid today. THANK FUCKING GOD.
  • i got to see edie sedgwick perform last night as part of the taffety punk theatre co.'s production at the black cat last night. brilliant. BRILLIANT. this kid was really amazing, and he only played a short set. i talked to him about playing Rock-n-Romp, though now i'm not so sure it wouldn't be too intense for the kiddies. we'll see.

well that was lame, eh? sorry! too busy! okay! talk later!

Friday, February 24, 2006

this is getting ridiculous

the last few months i keep catching the last 30-45 minutes of the lord of the rings: the return of the king, and usually there's nothing else on, so i watch it. you know the scene where frodo is recovering in bed after destroying the ring and all his friends come in the room to laugh and make merry? every time i see it, i cry my eyes out. I CRY MY FUCKING EYES OUT. what the hell is wrong with me? a few times have definitely been hormonally influenced, but this time i think i'm just being a sappy fuck! i think it's frodo's big blue pensive eyes or sam's hangdog expression or something. is it the way that they are so in tune with what the other is thinking? how sam is willing to give his life to help his beloved friend? oh shit, here come the waterworks again. *sniff*

oh, and am i the only one who thinks aragorn is goddamn sexy? heh. i am such a nerd.

Thursday, February 23, 2006

you've got to be fucking kidding me

because i am a dumbass, i do not carry a wallet. i am a cash-and-debit-card-and-license-in-the-pocket kinda gal. however, i do not like to accumulate coinage in my pockets -- so unflatteringly bulky, don't you think? i usually dump it in my jacket pockets or whatever bag i'm carrying. yes, i carry a purse pretty much everywhere but do not use it to hold a wallet. or a change purse, obviously, seeing as how the change swims freely about the bottom of the bag. i dump the change in the bag and i forget about it. in addition to being a purse-carrying-but-not-wallet-carrying kinda gal, i'm also an accessory whore. i have multiple purses. lots of purses. TOO MANY purses. and i like to switch them up, 'cause i'm cute like that. so this means that there are pools of change swimming around in the bottoms of LOTS of purses. you want to know where i'm going with this, don't you? okay, i'll cut to the chase. this month has been the official We Are On A Budget And We Are Going To Stick To It, GODDAMMIT, Or I Will Throttle You, You Overspending Shopaholic Bitch month. it has been difficult. very, VERY difficult. it has pushed my OCD to the limit, as i have started to feel like i'm suffocating when i have to calculate the total of the purchases in the shopping cart, and whether we really need those cookies. of course we need those cookies, dammit! we'll buy lightbulbs next month! anyway, today i spied a bunch of change in one of my bags and thought, "wow. i am going to go through all the bags and all the change bowls/receptacles around the house (dave uses bowls or cups to collect his ever-increasing collection of change), and see what i come up with!" wanna know what i came up with? do ya?? i'll tell you! CLOSE TO ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY DOLLARS IN QUARTERS AND DIMES AND NICKELS. and there are still a gazillion pennies to be counted! is that insane, or what? but the more important question: what to spend it on?? heh.

oh day, you are so fucked

natey has a nasty cold. the last few days have been a blur of snot, tissues (i am amazed and incredibly thankful that this kid can blow his nose -- like, effectively blow his nose. it is awesome. now he just needs to teach his older brother.), crying, fitful sleep, food strikes etc etc. if he weren't such an awesome sleeper, i suppose waking up multiple times at night wouldn't bother me so much but, well, you know. i feel like a zombie. and i feel like i could be getting the same cold. whee! so i've got some pillowcases i need to finish, some things to get from the store, a hellhole of a house (remember the spinal tap song "hellhole"? hellhole! don't want to live in a HELLHOLE! so yeah, dave and i sing that a lot around here.) and a kid who woke up at 5 am. 5 MOTHERFUCKING AM. i suppose i should be grateful that he's really not cranky -- he was totally ready to party at 5 FUCKING AM. i, on the other hand, WAS NOT. so anyway, this day is fucked, you see. he's already delirious because he's tired, wants to be with/on me constantly, won't eat, and will probably fight me tooth and nail when i try to get him to take a nap. if he doesn take a nap, it will be totally off-schedule (early) and i know he won't take another one later, no matter how desperately he needs it. BLARGH. i should do stuff while he's napping but, come on. i got up at 5 FUCKING AM. did i mention that i'm on my period? NICE.

Tuesday, February 21, 2006

lloyd dobler vs. jake ryan?

seriously?? PLEASE.

i just heard peter gabriel's "in your eyes" which made me think of lloyd dobler (john cusack's character) from say anything, which then made me remember an article about his appeal in the washington post's style section a while back. the writer recalled a previous article on why women my age love jake ryan (the hot dude from sixteen candles), and countered with how just as many women love lloyd dobler. um, what? are you kidding me? maybe i was an atypical teenager, but even though i was angsty and wore all black and loved punk and new wave music, i still knew that jake ryan was FUCKING HOT. lloyd dobler was a geek! sure, he was kinda cute and had decent taste in music, but he wore ridiculous sweatpants with bandanas around the ankles and a trenchcoat! give me a cute, clean HOT preppy boy over that any day. plus, that girl lloyd wanted was a dingdong! molly ringwald's character was so much more deserving of the happy ending with the HOT preppy boy. yes, i was this shallow back then, too. heh.

so, in closing, jake ryan so obviously kicks lloyd dobler's ass. sorry, sensitive boy. and now i'm wondering whatever happened to the hot dude who played jake ryan...

trying to catch a deluge in a paper cup

is that not an excellent lyric? this weekend we've had our radio tuned to the local classic rock station because they're doing this "30 years in 30 days" thing, and i am a total whore for 80s music. saturday was 1983, sunday was '84, monday was '85 and today is '86. holy fuck, 1986 was TWENTY YEARS AGO. so yeah, good and bad 80s music, it doesn't matter. i love it. and they've definitely been playing the good AND the bad. i've heard john cougar mellencamp, depeche mode, thompson twins, bruce springsteen, motley crue, new order, fabulous thunderbirds, huey lewis, RUN-DMC, billy idol, peter gabriel, jefferson starship (or was it just starship at that point?), general public, heart, echo and the bunnymen, crowded house. man, these songs really take me back. and now i'm getting misty-eyed 'cause they're talking about the space shuttle explosion. wait, frank zappa was on miami vice?? oh god, and i remember the monkees revival. yikes. good times, folks. i almost want to dig out my big, baggy cure tee-shirt and black leggings!

Wednesday, February 15, 2006

happy happy joy joy

so i recently had a lovely visit with my gynecologist. oh pap smear, why must you only come but once a year? heh. things seem to be in good working order, but i did find out that i am now at the age where i should have a mammogram. A MAMMOGRAM. if there's anything that makes a woman feel like she ain't no spring chicken anymore, it's the words YOU NEED A MAMMOGRAM. ugh. i was like, okay, whatever, but she made sure to tell me that the reason to do it now is to have baseline results to compare the results of the yearly mammograms i will have once i hit 40 against. ah, i see. whatever. it's funny because i'm not really freaked out about having it done -- isn't it supposed to be, uh, rather uncomfortable? i'm sure i read that in self or saw it on the learning channel or discovery channel or something. what? that's where i get all my important medical information! heh. perhaps my blase attitude was because i was also processing the fact that she had just given me a prescription for zoloft -- my first anti-depressant! let's just say that i have been having some serious issues with the pmdd lately, and asked for her advice. i hate how out-of-control i feel, though i'd wager that dave, jack and nate hate it more, as they bear the brunt of my raging mood swings. the doctor said that the anti-depressant meds are worth trying, though there's no guarantee they'll work. i'm down with that, though i'm a little freaked out! i am the person that experiences all the side-effects associated with Rx drugs, which is why i shy away from them. it's like, hey, i feel pretty dang good, it's just this diarrhea sure puts a damper on things! SIGH. damned if i do and damned if i don't.

any experienced zoloft users out there? give me some feedback!

Tuesday, February 14, 2006

now playing

the cure - boys don't cry

nate's current favorite song. he prefers to listen to it repeatedly, like 4 or 5 times in a row, and i am happy to oblige, but now it is playing in a repeated loop in my head. it's not so bad. the thing that sucks is trying to explain to jack why it is okay for boys to cry. i'm slowly finding out that i am not cut out for this i am curious about everything and will ask the most puzzling questions because i MUST KNOW why and how everything works, happens, and just plain IS! phase. nothing like a curious 5 year old to make me feel like a total dumbass.

Monday, February 13, 2006

ROK IS A BAD FAT ROK

today jack is home because the schools are run by pussies who can't handle more than a dusting of snow. BAH. he is currently watching zoboomafoo (excellent show, btw. jack has learned all kinds of stuff about animals, so it's not like he's rotting his brain with pokemon or some shit. if you have the PBS sprout channel , you should check it out.) because natey is napping and i just really, really want him to SHUT UP. this kid! with the talking and talking and TALKING. sheesh! it wouldn't be so bad if half of it didn't sound like gibberish because he's using some crazy high-pitched voice that he finds to be hilarious. so yeah, TV time = quiet time. THANK GOD FOR TV. there have been a few non-TV quiet times today, though. earlier nate and jack were coloring together, and jack presented me with a paper scrawled with purple sparkly crayon. it read:

ROK IS A BAD FAT ROK BUCUS HEE IS A BAD ROK.

while i am totally beaming with pride because his reading and writing are coming along so well, and this is the first time he has given me something that he's written on his own, i can't help thinking, who the hell is rok, and what did he ever do to YOU??

i am PUNKMAN!


i am PUNKMAN!
Originally uploaded by workforidlehands.

i got the "punk rock" accessories in a little kit from the 5 dollar store. funny, huh? it took exactly 2.2 minutes to lose the earrings, so poor punkman isn't as "punk rock" as he should be. i love the chin beard. oh, and the green 'hawk, of course.

*edit* i have just been informed that it is PUNKHEAD not PUNKMAN. jack is a stickler for details.

Sunday, February 12, 2006

SNOW!

so i totally love the continuous shutter feature on this camera -- especialy nice when you've got two spazzy boys who won't sit or stand still. take a look at the 8-part series "continuous shutter snow slide action" over yonder on flickr! click the pic!

ps: i know that the pictures are not in the correct order. i am too lazy to fix it. you kids know how to view them the right way, right? of course you do!

Friday, February 10, 2006

the electric company!

YAY! this makes me so very happy! if you aren't old enough to remember the electric company, i really do feel sorry for you, but at least you can watch the dvds. man, i used to love the crap out of that show.

wow, i've had a crush on morgan freeman for 30 years. groovy.

Thursday, February 09, 2006

god, i hate photos of me

but i have been inspired to share by supaMB, who also just got a rad haircut. i hooked up with a kickass hairstylist last night to fix a HORRIBLY FUCKED UP cut i received the other day. oh my god, it was painful -- i can't really talk about it. heh. no seriously, it was beyond awful. don't these people-who-are-allowed-to-touch -strangers'-hair need to go to school and shit?? anyway, i couldn't be happier with this 'do. we were going for a domino-meets-soccer-mom look -- a little messy, a little sexy, a little yes, i drive a station wagon but i could totally be a supermodel-turned- assassin, that's how fucking good my hair looks! heh. looks good, yeah?

oh, and WHY IN THE HELL did i think that i looked good with long(ish) hair?? I DON'T. not to mention the fact that i also have no idea how to style longer hair! this is a little wax+blowdry if i've got time=AWESOME. i will now and forever embrace the short(ish) hairstyles. you are my witness.

Tuesday, February 07, 2006

now playing

rick james - give it to me baby

as i stepped outside to get the paper, a royal blue PT cruiser drove by blasting the all-too-familiar bass line to this song. it made me happy, even though it is 7 in the goddamn morning, asshole! it's okay. i think it's gonna be a good day.

in case you'd forgotten:

When I came home last night
You wouldn't make love to me
You went fast asleep
You wouldn't even talk to me
You say I'm so crazy
Coming home intoxicated
I say just want to love you, I just wanna love you, baby
Guess that's why I'm so elated, come on, girl

Give it to me, baby (Give it to me, baby)
Give it to me, baby (Give it to me, baby)
I betcha I'll make you holler you've had enough
Give it to me, baby (Give it to me, baby)
Just give it to me, baby
Give it to me, baby (Give it to me, baby)
I betcha I'll make you holler you've had enough
Give it to me
Give me that stuff, that funk, that sweet, that funky stuff {Say what}
Give it to me
Give me that stuff, that funk, that sweet, that funky stuff {Say what}
Give it to me, give it to me
Give it to me, give it to me
Give me your stuff, that funk, that sweet, that funky stuff (Yo-ho, ow)
Give it to me, baby

When I was high as the sky
Out all night just dancin'
You say, 'Let's go home' {Come on, Rick, I'm tired, let's go home}
That's the time I start romancin'
You say how can I love you, how can I love you, baby
When your body keeps on movin'
I say wait till I squeeze you, oh
Maybe then you'll start to groovin', come on, girl

Give it to me, baby (Give it to me, baby)
Give it to me, baby (Give it to me, baby)
I betcha I'll make you holler you've had enough
Give it to me, baby (Give it to me, baby)
Just give it to me, baby
Give it to me, baby (Give it to me, baby)
I betcha I'll make you holler you've had enough
Give it to me
Give me that stuff, that funk, that sweet, that funky stuff {Say what}
Give it to me
Give me that stuff, that funk, that sweet, that funky stuff {Say what}
Give it to me, give it to me
Give it to me, give it to me
Give me your stuff, that funk, that sweet, that funky stuff (Yo-ho, ow)
Hey, girl
Give it to me what you say
Give it to me what you say{Give it to me}
What you say {Give it to me}, what you say [Hey, girl]
Give it to me what you say
Give it to me what you say{Give it to me, give it to me} [Hey, girl]
Give it to me what you say
Give it to me what you say
Give it to me, give it to me
Give it to me what you say
Give it to me right away
Give it to me, give it to me
Give it to me what you say

don't you feel happy now??


Friday, February 03, 2006

skull + red tee = LOVE


skull on red 2
Originally uploaded by workforidlehands.

an experiment that turned out pretty well, i must say. i think this would make a perfect valentine for a tot with attitude! anyone interested? i've got a buncha red tees in lots o' sizes i can stitch up and, for you lovely bloggy friends, one can be yours for the low, low price of 20 bucks + shipping! i can't promise valentine's day delivery, but i'd do my best.

ps: supa and i are chugging along on the 60 bugs site, and hope to have it up this month. then you can have all the wicked cool tot shirts you want! whee!

pps: i used a sublime stitching pattern for the skull 'cause i seriously can't draw anything better than this.....i love how creepy it is....perfect on baby shirts! heh. i [heart] sublime stitching!

ppps: and! i do have other designs available, as well. check it. this is the only design available on red, though. all others are on white onesies and tees.

Thursday, February 02, 2006

whorish consumer, take 2

so i have an unnatural love for target and, yes, i do say tar-zhay sometimes, like a dork. i remember when i first discovered target about 10 years ago. one had opened up close to where i was working, and i went and couldn't believe how awesome it was. everything was clean! and bright! and modern! and CHEAP! i told a co-worker: "it's like wal-mart, but with clothes i'd actually consider wearing!" and it's true! the clothing there is actually decent. no weird polyester muumuus, like you'd see at wal-mart -- clothes that are modern and made out of natural fibers and, i dunno, normal? yeah, i guess that's a good word. but now target has started dipping into the high fashion pool, offering collections from liz lange (when i was pregnant with jack i coveted her online catalog, but it was insanely expensive. i got lucky with nate, thanks to the cheap line she does for target!), isaac mizrahi, fiorucci (which i love, but have determined that i can't really get away with wearing anything other than their t-shirts at my age.) and now! NOW, they have done it. they have debuted a line by fashionista luella bartley, which appears to just be one in a string of collections offered for a limited time only, and it's pretty damn cute. today i bought this skirt, which i think is going to be a favorite come spring, and i'm freakin' giddy at having found it! 25 bucks! i love green, and it looks good on me. like, really good. and i'm no skinny, leggy model, either! oh and it comes in khaki, which is probably in my closet next. what can i say? i'm a closet preppy. heh. anyway, this makes me happy. now that i'm a stay-at-home-mom on a budget, it's nice to know that i can buy cute, hip clothes without breaking the bank. oh, and pick up diapers at the same time!

i have been tagged

by dimple and a smirk, so here goes:

4 jobs in your life

glamour shots photographer (i know, you wish you were me. heh.)
optician
ticket seller in a movie theater box office
sold fancy knives at a store i can't remember the name of

4 movies you could watch over and over

fifth element
dazed and confused
napoleon dynamite
rockstar

4 tv shows you love to watch

LOST
gilmore girls
west wing (last season! WAH!)
family guy

4 places you have lived

augsburg, germany
washington dc
fort knox, kentucky
arlington, virginia

4 places you have been on vacation

venice, italy
nassau, bahamas
dublin, ireland
toronto

4 websites you visit daily

DCist.com
flickr!
weather.com
sweetney.com

4 of your favorite foods

french toast
big fat bacon cheddar burger
french fries (any potato, really)
totrilla chips and guacamole

4 places you'd rather be right now

at MoMa in NYC
shopping on queen street west in toronto
shopping for all things kawaii in tokyo
doing pretty much anything in san francisco

4 bloggers you are tagging

supafine!
miss domestic
drowning in kids
ninjamonkey3000

Wednesday, February 01, 2006

OUCH. MY OVARIES.

yesterday i was smacked in the face with the realization that i will not be having any more kids. i knew this, but i guess i didn't know this. like, emotionally, you know? natey and i were playing and practicing words (his talking has exploded, though he's mostly stuck on words that start with B. hey, i'm cool with that! he's TALKING.) and chasing each other, and as he ran across the room with a huge toothy smile and hugged me with his two little arms wrapped tight around my neck, my heart basically melted. POW. it hit me: my baby isn't really a baby anymore. he's going to be two years old next month, and is going to keep growing and moving and won't want to hug me as much and will talk back and OH MY GOD i'm going to miss this little boy in diapers.

what is it about babies? i know exactly what it is: they're helpless and love you unconditionally and don't care if you haven't showered in three days and they're just goddamn CUTE. i LOVE babies! okay, more specifically, i love MY babies. having jack and nate has changed my life in ways i never thought possible, and i guess i'm not sure if i'm ready to give that baby high feeling up just yet. i love feeling needed the way my boys need me, but there's something so powerful about the way a baby needs you. it's a feeling like no other. dave and i have talked about my wanting another baby, but he's against it. his fears are breadwinner-like, in that he basically thinks we don't have enough money to have more kids than we do now. there's clothes (if it's a girl, though i kinda dig the big brother hand-me-down tomboy look. oh, who am i kidding? i'd be all over that pink shit!) and there's preschool (we love montessori, but it's fucking expensive! jack has had such a wonderful experience, but i'm pretty sure that nate will not be riding the montessori train.) and there's space (our house is small already, and even though our neighborhood is great and our property value is through the roof, we couldn't afford to buy another house here. i refuse to move further out.) and, most importantly, there's my total lack of budgeting ability. so basically, i don't know how to live within our means, so it's my fault we can't have another baby. hrm.

to be honest, there are days i want another baby (like yesterday) and there are days where i'm absolutely sure that two boys is enough. what chafes me is not having the option, and feeling like i can't do something i want to do because of something stupid like money. i know i could make adjustments if we were to get pregnant again -- i'm not a damn moron! we could make it work. i guess the question is do i really want this? or does yesterday's smack in the face mean that my heart has accepted, sad as it may be, that there will be no more babies? SIGH. let me think about it some more and get back to you.