Paul drops in

Last night, in between my blog rant and generally crabby behavior around the house, my friend Devlyn and I were on the phone discussing some Junior League business. Paul was sitting in the living room with me, playing on his DS and apparently half-listening to my end of the conversation. I was a little confused when he suggested I do a crossword puzzle or something because I kept saying "Bored, bored, bored."

Except I was saying "Board, Board, Board." As in Board of Directors and do we need to have the Board's approval for this.

He gets credit for trying.

Today's picture is courtesy of my mom, taken at my sister's house during Christmas.  Abigail is wearing the tutu we gave her that plays music (Swan Lake over and over and over) while you dance.  Paul is doing his best "Abigail" dance. And they're both enjoying themselves immensely.

That time of the year

There is definitely something about this time of year that makes me overwhelmingly cranky. It's cold. It's windy. It's overcast. And the warmer, sunny days merely lull one into thinking winter might be nearly over only to get a whammy of cold weather the next day. Even yesterday's snow day did nothing to lift my spirits. I'm tired of it being cold and having to wear my coat and bulky layers. I'm tired of my job and the isolation I often feel because I'm a department of one. I'm tired of working to find books that support the curriculum only to have teachers tell me that they'll just have their classes use Google. I'm tired of trying to show teachers how to use library resources only to have them tell me that they don't want to learn and they'll just use Google. I'm tired of being a "go-to" person for extracurricular things and not being compensated for not saying no. I'm tired of not being able to say no. I'm tired of feeling like I'm left out of the proverbial loop all the time. (But as a total aside in this rant, I looked up "proverbial" on answers.com and in Dutch, the word is spreekwoordelijk. That makes me feel a little better.) I'm tired of Paul working so many hours and being so stressed. I'm tired of his self-centered coworkers who are adding to the stress by threatening to quit in the middle of projects. I'm tired of feeling like I can't do anything to help him. I'm tired of my life being on hold because he is under such stress and works so many hours. I'm tired of always looking on the bright side of things.

I know that I'm so blessed and fortunate in so many ways in my life--house, car, health, husband, friends, etc., etc.--and I'm not discounting any of that. I simply need to wallow for a while and I could probably use a good cry as well. A good long cry that has no real purpose but cleanses the soul even if it does leave me snubbing at the end.

And another day off would be good, as well:

moar funny pictures

Coincidence? Irony? I'm not sure but it's something.

Yesterday, I was complaining about not wanting to be at school and wanting to take a day off and wouldn't it be nice to just not be at work for a day, etc., etc.

This morning, I awoke to a white view out my window and a two-hour delay for school.  Not quite a day off but two extra hours of lazing about the house would suffice.  Because I'd bathed last night, I'd already slept in an extra thirty minutes.  I wandered downstairs around 7:00, happily still in pajamas and slippers to feed the "Paul's Big Boy," this morning's nickname for a cat who was whinging about needing food, and to fix myself a bowl of cereal.

Midway through my bowl of cereal, the announcement was made that school would be cancelled for the day.  Huh.  One would think I'd be happy about that cancellation but I'm actually not too thrilled with it.

Reasons I'm unhappy about today's snow day:

1)  Our school calendar is now one day longer in May.

2)  Paul will probably stay home since I'm staying home so I don't get a day to myself.

3)  There's no reason for a snow day since it is supposed to be 40 degrees today.

4)  Two-hour delays don't have to be made up.  Snow days do.

5)  I think I'm residually cranky from yesterday.

In the meantime, the cat and I are fighting for position in front of the fireplace and I'm debating if I actually should change from my pajamas today.  Perhaps there is a small bonus to not having school today.

For Mom & Amy

Here are pictures of you both looking quite pleasant at Christmas.

Amy, seeming pleased with her new portrait of Paul and me:

Amy, reading the new Christmas book to Benjamin. I think this is about as far as you got because Abigail had already wandered off and Benjamin wasn't too far behind her. But still, you look quite pleasant.
For Mom. I'm not sure why Paul couldn't get a picture of you smiling but I believe you were smiling when you opened this up. Or confused. We can't tell since we can only see your forehead. But your eyes are open.
Oh, not only were in you the kitchen, Mom, you were smiling while in there. And we managed to get the back of Donna's head but she is standing beside me so I do have that elusive shot of us together.
I was trying to just sit and look pleasant while we were in Kansas. I'm not sure how Paul does it but I do believe this look is hereditary.

The favorites

So, the calendar is almost through January and I'm just now sharing pictures from Christmas. Better late than never, as the cliched saying goes. As is always the case when Paul has the camera, this is a small sampling of all the pictures that were taken over the holiday.

I'm beginning to wonder about my sister Donna's existence because I never seem to actually capture her in a photo. Perhaps she's a vampire. Maybe she has no soul. I dunno. But one of these years, I'll actually have photographic proof that she was, indeed, at the same holiday with me.

From the neighborhood holiday party. Yes, they were all standing in the kitchen and dining room, even though I'd tried to coax them into the living room by placing food on the coffee table. No luck. I have no idea what I'm doing (I'm under the dining room light) but I seem to have the attention of several neighbors.
Christmas for Paul and me. Paul finds a Ben & Jerry's gift card in his stocking. He has yet to share it with me, the bum.
And then we were off to Amarillo. I have no idea what Amy was doing and I'm sure she's less than thrilled that I shared this one. I did have other pictures of her to choose from but I liked this one. She's very animated.
To fully appreciate this picture of Paul and everyone else, click on it to enlarge it. He hears his own drummer so much of the time. Abigail, in tutu and bunny slippers. I tried to think of something clever to caption this picture but I couldn't think of anything. It was one of my favorite shots.
Benjamin tears into his package from Aunt Carrie and Uncle Paul. Amy had suggested we get him a new tent that could go with the tunnel we gave Abigail when she was about this age. Easy enough to do--I remembered where I'd purchased the tunnel and after a few clicks on the Internet, the package was winging it's way to ABQ.
OK, so I'd envisioned something a little less involved. I'd read the dimensions so I wasn't surprised by the size but I thought it would be a pop-up thing. Apparently, that would be too easy. The set up for this contraption is similar to pitching a full-size tent. But it seemed to be a hit with the children if not the parents. (I'm explaining to Amy there there is a hole on the other side for the tunnel and Mom is drunk. Or blinking.)
Later that evening, the brothers and their families came along with my step-grandparents. Here, Dad, Granddad, and Leta visit while Granny eavedrops in from other side of the room.
Holliday, Melissa, Leta, and Gene. Since Leta is still smiling, this was probably before Gene started explaining how he cleans his gun in the shower. Yes, Gene is naked and armed. Thankfully, he does understand the danger. Not that he's going to stop since he's determined it to be the most efficient method.And if the above story hadn't confirmed your assumption about the family, here's further proof. Yep. We're rednecks. The baby got a package in a beer box.
The next day at Gran & Granddad's house, playing Wits and Wagers. Granddad just looks harmless--he plays the pitiful old man who doesn't know anything while cleaning up. (Hey, look! There's Donna!)
So, Paul went through a phase where everything had to be tried on as a hat--bowls, platters, shoes. Whatever. Stick it on your head or you'll never hear the end of it. I thought he'd outgrown it but when I opened up a new candleholder, I was instructed to do this:
Same day? Next day? It all seems to run together. At least I know we were still in Amarillo. We didn't get many pictures at Uncle Jammie's house--I think the battery on the camera was dying. But thankfully, we do have pictures of Grandmother and Granddad. (And Grandmother also played the "Oh, I don't know anything" role while cleaning up at Wits and Wagers at this house. She correctly guessed the number of Starbucks franchises in the U.S. in 1995. Whatever, lady. Next time, we're not being so nice.)

We drove back to ABQ the next day (the 26th) so we could fly to Kansas the morning of the 27th to visit Paul's family there. It was a good trip--bittersweet since we knew we were saying goodbye to Reva--but it was still pleasant to see the family there. There weren't many photo opportunities on this trip. A snap of Owen:
Paul and I hadn't thrown in enough extra layers for the Kansas winter-- I glanced over one evening and noticed that Paul had utilized his new gloves from Gran and Granddad as slippers.
Back home, we were finally able to celebrate Christmas with Paul's parents on New Year's Day. Jubjub decides he wants to go home with the inlaws. This was even before he knew about the whole teeth-cleaning thing. Traitor.