Rave: daughter's surgery went well and she's home and resting comfortably. What was originally thought to be a plantar's wart was actually a tumor. Surgeon said it was benign but is having it biopsied anyway. She's off her feet for the next two weeks, so it's pampering time! Rant: I don't have someone to drive my other daughter--the social butterfly-- around for the next two weeks. It's been really convenient to just say, "Go pick up your sister from Jennifer's." Rave: Christmas shopping is done. Last item on the list was the iPad for my wife so I ordered it online and opted for pickup at the local Apple store. Even with that purchase method and about two dozen salespeople deployed in the store, I was still in there far longer than I wanted to be. There must have been close to 100 customers and the sales gal said it's been like that from open to close ever since Thanksgiving. Wish I had bought more Apple stock way back when.
RANT: My grandmother is in diastolic heart failure, and they can't seem to find a good pacemaker setting. She's depressed, tired of fighting for a modicum of health, and generally fed up. As much as I hate consider it, this might be her last Christmas.
Rant?: We're too busy to take much time off of work. Rave: I'm supposed to end my dry spell on Saturday. Rantish?: It's with an ex. She was good in bed though so its all good right?
Rave: Finally got the last of the presents I ordered today. Now to (badly) wrap them tomorrow and spread the Christmas joy. Rant: 220 bucks for Legos? Good lord. When my father mentioned that my brother wanted a couple of sets from the Lego store, I casually mentioned that I'd pick them both up for him. I was thinking 100, 120 tops. Stupid train station. Rant: I normally only give cardio a passing thought after a training session. So for the past couple of weeks or so I've been loading up a random Starcraft 2 game on my phone and watching it to completion while I run. Usually the games go 10-20 minutes, so it's been no big deal. But of course, today, after a dynamic leg day no less, I somehow grab a Destiny vs Minigun game that lasted 35 cock gargling minutes. My legs are letting me know in no uncertain terms that that is absolute bullshit.
Rave: I swear to god this is true. This province is so stringently honest it's absurd. I'm at the airport, waiting for my flight to board, and this page comes over the intercom: "Someone has left their change at security. If you left your coins at central security, please come and claim it."
Rant: Rainy Friday at work. Rave: Tomorrow, the wife and I are heading to Boston where my father's entire side of the family will be celebrating Christmas together. This is the first time the wife will be surrounded by this side of the family completely, so I'm very excited!
Rant & Rave Thread I ordered only 2 of my Christmas presents from the Internet an both of them on December 1st. Neither have shown up and it looks like they won't in time for Christmas. Fuck fuck fuck I am gonna call these asshats and give them a piece of my mind for a good hour or ranting and bitching. Oh joy now I get to go wonder off in the joyous time of last minute shopping to look for something to fill the void of these two missing gifts. FUCK I COULD MURDER SOMEONE RIGHT NOW.
Rant - Ok, we've got these three foster kids and while they have turned our lives upside-down, they've gotten much better & have settled into our family a bit. Granted they still have their moments. Surprisingly this rant isn't about them, but their parents. Mainly their dad. We don't know him, never have and never will meet him, but man, do his (bad) decisions affect our lives. First (and most obvious) he does not know how to parent - at all. The social worker is there on their visits with the kids and they let the kids do ANYTHING they want and never correct them - which make things so much easier for us (jerk). Second - we always go to my partner's parents house for Christmas - it's in Virginia and about a 6 hour drive, but it's beautiful out there and they have a bunch of animals (horses, mule, sheep, chickens, etc) so we figured we'd suffer through the drive with 5 kids and go as usual. But wait! First we need the dad's permission (well, parents, but he controls the mother's life, so it's all him) and he says no! NO!?!? We can put the kids in respite care and let strangers watch them for the week so we can go, but we can't do that to them over the holidays, it just seems so wrong. So we are not going. My kids cannot see their own grandparents over the holidays because of this guy. Last - Today the kids had a visit with their parents. The last visit before Christmas. My partner is home alone with 4 out of 5 kids (I took my oldest to work with me) which is NOT easy and the social worker comes to pick them up for the visit - pumps them up to see their parents & they leave. They get halfway there and they get a call that the parents are not coming. NOT COMING?!? Right before Christmas!?? So they turn around and bring them home. Now the kids are in terrible, confused, acting out moods because they have no clue what is going on. What is wrong with these people!?!?? I think I might hate them. Otherwise, I hope everyone & their families have a wonderful holiday!!! (tl;dr - The biological parents of our foster kids suck big time)
RAVE - Oh sweet jesus today is payday. Things have been in dire the past week; I'm completely tapped out because... RAVE - I've gone all out on gifts this year. Everyone I've bought something for is getting exactly what they wanted. RANT - It is going to be a very lean spring. I thought I was finished with this kind of shit after getting a decent job.
Bah: Great aunt died this morning. She was 103 and still had her wits. She was in awesome shape until the last year or so. Wish she could be here for another Christmas. Drinking one for her. She was the one who went away to college, got knocked up, and quietly gave the baby up for adoption aka the Scandalous Sister. (there were 5 girls, no boys). She was a nurse and was my grandma's closest sister. Whenever my parents were out of town my grandma and she would stay with us. She was always super laid back for an old person, and she had some awesome stories, including the one where she accidentally took a hachet to someones skull while playing George Washington. I'll miss you, Aunt Lil.
RANT - It's currently WWIII in my house. My sister had a meltdown a couple nights ago, during which we found out that she's been cutting herself again. Dozens of cuts up her forearm. My mother took her to a psych facility to be evaluated. Turns out my sister had planned to kill herself over our steadfast objection to her (40 year old, still married to his third wife) boyfriend. So my sister was committed. We had a brief hope that she'd be home for Christmas, but the facility told us today that it's unlikely she'll be out before Monday. Then my (childless paternal) aunt told my mother that all of this is her fault. Not my parents' fault, not our collective fault, but specifically my mother's fault. Now my mother is asking my father to choose between Christmas with us and Christmas with his side of the family because she refuses to be in the same place as my aunt. The holidays in my household are usually disastrous, but this year takes the cake. Merry Christmas, my ass.
Rant: I feel like a doucher because my mom never tells us anything she wants for Christmas gifts so we end up getting the same shit every year...Flowers, candles, candy, stupid shit like that and I feel like a cheap prick. I suppose it was for the best since my financial situation sucks balls right now but got damn. Rave: Got a few days off in a row. Sweet. Rave: Possibly going to join the big brother/sister organization. Was going to ask about it in the weekly drunk thread, but recanted considering it's a Friday night. Anyone know anyone in it or how exactly it's operated? I get the general gist of it and I'm really considering and will call within the next week, but I'd like to hear some outside opinions/information if possible.
Rave. One year continuous sobriety today. 12 step program is working in my life. Rant business is shit. Going to need a new job by Dec 31.
Rave: The kids are loving their presents! Hooray! Plus, I scored a really nice pot and pan set, dishes, and some odds and ends. I guess we have a package at the post office yet, so I guess we will be getting more! Hooray!
Holy cow, was I spoiled this Christmas. - Things started off with a bang when Enterprise offered to trade me the Malibu I had reserved for a fully loaded 2011 Ford Explorer. I have named it Thunderhead (it's grey), and I believe I'm in love. - My mom got me a Blackberry Playbook tablet (BB because work has me carry a BB Smartphone) - My dad gifted me a nice bit of money, as well as a Peugeot pepper mill (extraORDINARILY thoughtful of him...he normally never buys gifts, and to get me something so useful and nice is one outta the park for him) - Not truly a Christmas present, but my aunt passed on to me a ring that belonged to my cousin, who inherited it from my grandmother. It's a massive solitaire that I have to get insured, but I just can't believe the gesture. I though the ring had been buried with my cousin when she died tragically; evidently, I was wrong. Now, we have a family dinner on Boxing Day where we'll all be together. This week I have to decide if I'm moving home or not. The only things missing from this day are my dogs. Stupid airlines and their pet embargoes.
Rave Packing my gear for a trip to Ouray, CO for some ice climbing!!! I'm beyond psyched. Hopefully be up there again in a few weeks for the international ice festival!
RAVE: The wife and kids are going to Tennessee tomorrow to spend the night at her sisters for x-mass and it's okay with my wife if I don't go. My day will begin with morning sex, or so I have been promised, and when they leave I will be stoned the rest of said day wherein I will spend time putting together new toys, plunking cans in the backyard with my BB gun (one of last years presents that never gets old), and playing my son's new drums. RANT: I will be worried out of my mind until they actually arrive at their destination and I feel tremendously guilty for not going.
Rant:The next couple of weeks will be interesting. Some might say I have mother issues, but really, I just have issues with her. Anyway, Jägerette and I are heading to England to visit my sister, and my mother will be there. It will be her first time seeing my wife and I since August. Kuhmom has this idea that we will all be sleeping in my sister's apartment (or as they say in England, "flat" crazy people those brits) Her apartment is maybe 450 square feet, 1.5 bedrooms and one bath. My mother expected 5 adults and 2 small children to stay in this area for a week. My mother refuses to sleep at my sister's fiance's parent's place. (that is a lot of possessives), and they shouldn't have to put my wife and I up. So, we booked a hotel. Rave: Telling her this is going to make my mother's head explode. It will be hilarious to watch.
RAVE: Spoiled like a little shit this year. Asked for a car emergency kit, car cleaner products, and a new comforter/sheets. Got all of that just from my dad's side, plus $100 in gas/merchandise cards. I also received a 200 piece Black and Decker screw/drill set, plus the actual drill, along with new crystal glassware and some quality stoneware bowls and plates. I know I'm forgetting more things, so yeah...fucking spoiled. RANT: My uncle is an inexplicably vile piece of shit who no longer qualifies as a human being in my eyes. Further, last night really set a fear into me that's been lurking for a few weeks- I think my mother may choose to check out not too long after my grandmother dies. I told her as much in less blunt terms, and she didn't even try to argue that I was wrong, which honestly scares the shit out of me. All it's going to take is a funeral followed by one too many beers on a night that her husband isn't home with her, and she's going to do something stupid.