Archive for March, 2008


Fortitudinous!

Filed under: Life by Mary Diamond — 1 Comment
03/31/2008

I love making up new words.

So Friday afternoon I hurt my back pretty badly. Went to the walk-in clinic where some doctor who really couldn’t have given less of a crap nodded and wrote out a prescription for Aleve while I was still talking. He pretty much made me feel like I had wasted the gas it took to drive there.

The next day I went to my general practice doc, who I love, and he inspected my back, bent my legs, watched my range of movement and felt my muscles while I stood straight. He then caringly ushered me into a seat “like a real person” and told me in no uncertain terms -word for word actually- “Tough shit. Deal with it”.

Apparently, I’ve pulled a muscle in my back and there’s nothing else they can give me for the pain that won’t make me useless and unable to care responsibly for my children. Then he answered all my questions, congratulated me on having two boys, entertained me with anecdotes about how lucky I am not to have any girls (he’s now watching his daughter with her teenage daughter) and made me feel like I was visiting a friend. A friend with a scottish (I think) accent. God I love my doctor.

The weekend was relatively uneventful -we got a new microwave that hangs over the stove and has a vent (yay for venting!). By today, my back isn’t hurting nearly as bad, and I’m actually quite impressed with how well I’m able to move around. It still hurts like the day before my period, and occasionally I have to stop and sit with a heating pad for a bit. Still, though, it could be much worse. I can feel the tightness of the muscle that’s weakened, and so I’m taking it easy and making an extra effort to bend at the knee when I lift Charlie.

So, after turning 29 on Easter Sunday (thought I’d let that slip by, didn’t you?) and then hurting myself like only grown-ups seem to do… I’m left with a house full of chores and very little motivation. That’s something I’m definately going to write about soon.

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I’m Older!

Filed under: Kids, Life by Mary Diamond — 2 Comments
03/26/2008

Let’s see… what have we missed in the last week or so?

Easter Sunday was my birthday -I’m very close to 30, but not quite there yet. I don’t like to say the numbers.

It was a nice holiday, and Mike’s mom even made a coffee cake and the family sang me happy birthday. My mom bought me the richest, chocolately-ist cake I think I’ve ever had. It was pretty good.

Earlier this week I was sinking again into not doing much here at home, but some friends called me this week and that sort of lifted my spirits. Yesterday afternoon I went to the mall with another new mom and we walked the strollers and chatted with friends and drank some Starbucks. It felt nice to get out and see people, although I really don’t think we made much of an effort to exercise.

Later I went and did Turbo Jam’s 20 minute workout (in Japanese -long story) and then at another friend’s house I started my first Mutants and Masterminds game. So far, it looks to be a really fun game. I also tried the new MintCrisp M&M’s and OMG… that’s all I can say about that.

OH, and the best thing I did yesterday amidst all that social chaos (and enjoyment) was I made this video of the kids. The quality is kind of crappy ’cause I’m trying to save space on my harddrive, and haven’t figured out quite what’s up with my external 250MB drive yet. It’s not my best work -but it’s CUTE!

 

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Spring and Things

Filed under: 365 pictures, Kids by Mary Diamond — Leave a comment
03/19/2008

So I’ve been slacking again on the 365 photos. Here’s day… 6?

The spring cleaning has commenced, but unfortunately the mess has to shift rooms a few times before it thins out enough to dissapear. This was our dining room a few days ago. I’ll post another of what it looks like now.

Yeah, that’s what I said. And then Sunday night I made a Turkey ham for dinner, and Sebastian had seconds and THIRDS!

Finally, Charlie has discovered lately that he loves to eat with the grownups. He absolutely will not stand for people eating in front of him, in fact. Today we shared a piece of Pumpkin Spice Bread I made yesterday. He likes it. =)

I hope that I can start really increasing my writing output in the next few months. I’ve always wanted to write, and there are so many ways to earn a living if you’re a good writer -it’s just ridiculous for me not to try.

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Delayed Post: Day 4

Filed under: 365 pictures, Life by Mary Diamond — Leave a comment
03/12/2008

Okay, I was going to go on about my bedroom cleaning adventure but something fantastic is happening!

It’s mid-march (almost my birthday) and the snow is actually melting! The temperature right now (according to weather.com) is 45 degrees! It’s supposed to get into the 50′s today. I’m so excited. I even went out on the deck and took a picture of it’s exposed boards… BAREFOOT!

March 12th 2008

Here you can see my broken toenail and freakishly shaped foot is pressed comfortably against the aging wood that is BATHED in warm sunlight. I’m sorry for getting sonorous on you, but I friggin’ LOVE the changing of the seasons -especially when it means I can go outside barefoot (or heaven forbid, in flip-flops) and a t-shirt.

Plus, my birthday’s coming up and it would be fantastic if I could do something nice outside on the big day. I’m pushin’ 30, folks. I’ve got to enjoy nature before my health starts to decline and my gut becomes like a second person I’m carrying around. What am I talking about, I’ve already done that twice.

You’ll also notice here the issues I mentioned earlier with my digital camera. The snow has bright sunlight shining on it, and therefore it’s purple. Makes total sense, right? If anyone has any idea what’s causing this -or how to fix it- I’d really appreciate any input.

 

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Delayed Post: Day 3

Filed under: 365 pictures by Mary Diamond — Leave a comment
03/12/2008

So after I got the laundry hauled out, for the most part, I decided that the snake tank would be much better in the basement near out computer area. We’re on the computers every night, and she’ll get more attention down there when friends come over (for our geeky computer parties). Besides all that, our bedroom is tiny and presently the Chi just isn’t flowing very well.

So -I moved the snake tank and stand into the basement next to the laundry room. Here you’ll see not only Eve, our Columbian Red-Tailed Boa Constrictor, but also the three baskets of laundry absent from the picture in my last post.

March 11th 2008

Next the furniture moving will commence!

 

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Delayed Post: Photo Day 2

Filed under: 365 pictures by Mary Diamond — Leave a comment
03/12/2008

Yes, I’m a slacker. I didn’t exactly carry through on the whole 365 days of pictures thing, but I have ADD so bear with me.

I’m not quitting, I’m just posting a few pics to describe my last few days. SO here goes…

March 10th 2008

It’s still not done, but I’m proud to say this is the rug that has been buried under a pile of laundry in our bedroom for …well lets just say a long time. I’ve been a bad housewife, and our bedroom has payed the price. I try to keep the living areas of the house clean, because we have kids and pets and the occasional visitor -but our room has been at the bottom of my priority list as far as cleaning goes. Michael has suffered at work because so many of his “corporate casual” clothes have been sitting unlaundered at the bottom of Mount Dirty Clothes.

So I finally got a fire under my butt and put away (hung and folded) the three baskets of clean laundry that were sitting atop the pile (I know, it’s shameful) and used the baskets to haul the dirty stuff downstairs. Yay, you can see the rug!

You can also see that it needs vacuuming badly. More to come.

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MySpace Has Opened My Eyes

Filed under: Life, Rants by Mary Diamond — 2 Comments
03/09/2008

I went to a friend’s bachelorette party on Friday night and had a great time. We sang karaoke, saw a band we’ve loved since high school, and generally got along swimmingly.

Of course there were cameras present and I ended up babysitting one for a reveler. I took some great pictures of our night out. Today, I was eagerly checking MySpace for the photos to be posted -and they were!

Bouncing up and down with excitement, I opened the photo album and started browsing. Suddenly I was hit with one of those wake-up call moments. There, right before my eyes, was a picture of me smiling with three other girls. I looked positively WIDE. My guts are getting out of hand, like, seriously.

I guess I have this mental picture of my figure ten years ago and I tend to just assume that I still look that way from certain angles. But the picture doesn’t lie -those ten pounds truly exist.

So I’m putting my foot down. Both feet actually, repeatedly in a rhythmic pattern set to music until my heart rate goes up and my body starts burning off the fat.

Because damn. I’m a fatty-boom-ba-latty.

 

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365 Pictures: day one

Filed under: 365 pictures by Mary Diamond — 2 Comments
03/07/2008

Well I finally got some cookies baked!

…my secret recipe chocolate chip. They’re the bomb, if I do say so m’self. I also made peanut butter cookies at Sebastian’s request.

The digital camera I ordered is probably not going to come, and at this point I can’t afford to order elsewhere. SO goodbye dreams of a really nice digital SLR. Worst part is, I already have the lens and Compact Flash memory card to go with it. So I guess I’ll hold those until next year’s tax return.

On a slightly lighter note, my old digital has started functioning better, but not as it should. The pictures (see above) come out alright as long as there are no bright lights or white in them. Sunlight turns a funny shade of purple and has horizontal lines in it.

The bathtub is clogged and draining really slow -two bottles of Drano and a bent-out-of-shape wire coat hanger aren’t fixing it either. So showers end on a yucky note, with a tub full of wash water up to my ankles.

 

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Manic Tuesday

Filed under: Uncategorized by Mary Diamond — 1 Comment
03/05/2008

I finally got the horrendous fake nails off last night. For a good friend’s wedding I went out and spent $40 on gel nails, which look slightly less fake than acrylics -but not really enough to matter. They were nice for a time, but as my nails grew out and they got longer and longer… I realized that the underside of those things is like a bomb shelter for bacteria.

I ate barbecue one night and couldn’t get the sauce out from between the nail tip and my real nail, changing numerous diapers (on a baby who’s teething and has the same cold as I do) I cringed thinking of the germs I couldn’t see. Now that I’m typing without them again, it’s like a whole new world of ease and convenience.

When I woke up this morning, I felt slightly better about things. I’ve been down in the dumps lately. Clinical depression would be a better term, but I think it’s developed quite a bit since my “moderate” diagnosis over ten years ago.

Anyway, I tried to actually work out around lunchtime today. I did make it most of the way through my old belly dance workout DVD before I started cheating on the steps a little and eventually took water breaks while the attractive east-Indian twins on the screen did the cardio exercises. I do still have a baby to take care of, and having my limbs feel like jell-o doesn’t exactly make life easier. I thought I’d feel much better afterward, but I still didn’t accomplish the baking or the dishes I had planned for today.

Then my husband called and reminded me that it was Wednesday (for some reason I thought it was Thursday). It seemed like moments after I hung up the phone I just got sapped. Thursday nights we have a D&D game at our house and friends come over. It’s something I do look forward to, despite having to make my living room look halfway decent. I guess I put off all the cleaning at that point, since it wasn’t until tomorrow that anyone would be coming over.

Once he got off work, he stopped at home long enough to change clothes, feed the baby one bottle, and ask if the dog needed to go out. He, of course, did not take the dog out and then left without dinner to go play video games at a friend’s house.

I’m really tired of arguing about the same things we always do, so I guess I’m at an impasse. Lately, I’ve just been losing energy like a balloon with no knot. One minute I’m prepared to get things done and planning out my day in my head -the next I’m playing catatonic on the living room furniture and I don’t even have the strength to pursue my own feelings of anger and frustration.

I’d really like to see a professional sometime. Maybe when those publisher’s clearinghouse people show up with my big check.

 

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