Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Err
Our computer is on the fritz. We've ended up with some spyware or something on it. Or a virus. It's sad how little I understand this realm of computerworld. So anyway, I really wanted to get started with the Long Tall Sally and start being more prolific in the way of blogging, but it looks like it might not be until next week. I'll try to sneak some in during my lunch breaks, I guess.
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Stepdad-isms
I don't know if this is standard, if it's something in the gene pool or generation pool or social pool that makes some more prone than others to adopting catch phrases, or if we've all got them, and we just don't notice them in ourselves.
I saw my stepdad this past holiday, and things have been swirling around in my head since then. He and my mom are now divorced, and she's remarried to DB#1, but since my stepdad is my brother's dad he's still around, and since I spent my formative years growing up with him, he'll always be my stepdad to me. If I'm talking about my parents in a collective sense, like, "My parents used to take us here," I mean my mom and stepdad. Any reference to parents as a unit would be describing them.
Anyway, I wander. Key exchanges from my childhood/adolescense:
Stepdad (after any clumsiness or erring): Smooth move, ex-lax.
Nichole: Gosh, my neck hurts.
Stepdad: Oh really, 'cause your face is killing me!
Stepdad: I'm so hungry, I'm seeing dead relatives.
Stepdad: Are you going to the movies?
Nichole: No.
Stepdad: Well, then why are you picking your seat?
Stepdad: Comet...
It tastes like Listerine.
Comet...
It makes your mouth turn green.
Comet...will make you vomit.
So buy some comet, and vomit today.
I think that there was another one about diahrea, cha cha cha. Oh yeah, and "Beans, beans, the magical fruit, the more you eat, the more you toot, the more you toot, the better you feel, so eat your beans at every meal."
Funny how things stick with you as you get older. What sticks with you and what falls away. These turns of phrase pop into my head at random times. I long to say, "Well, your face is killing me! Ha ha ha!" when someone complains of a sore back or something. Yet I refrain, for fear of being thought as silly as I once thought my stepdad. Now I realize that these are ingrained in my mind as part of my home life. My childhood. The life with my mother and stepdad before things took a turn or two for the worse and they became miserable together.
He came over to my grandparents' house on Christmas Eve...quite chatty, although the cause of that was quite evident based on the bobbing and weaving. He said, after a discussion of how the in-laws in our family are referred to as outlaws, how he's the only one who's still invited to family events after divorce, he pats my shoulder and says, "And this...this is still my favorite ex-daughter."
Priceless. Dysfunctional. And totally priceless.
I saw my stepdad this past holiday, and things have been swirling around in my head since then. He and my mom are now divorced, and she's remarried to DB#1, but since my stepdad is my brother's dad he's still around, and since I spent my formative years growing up with him, he'll always be my stepdad to me. If I'm talking about my parents in a collective sense, like, "My parents used to take us here," I mean my mom and stepdad. Any reference to parents as a unit would be describing them.
Anyway, I wander. Key exchanges from my childhood/adolescense:
Stepdad (after any clumsiness or erring): Smooth move, ex-lax.
Nichole: Gosh, my neck hurts.
Stepdad: Oh really, 'cause your face is killing me!
Stepdad: I'm so hungry, I'm seeing dead relatives.
Stepdad: Are you going to the movies?
Nichole: No.
Stepdad: Well, then why are you picking your seat?
Stepdad: Comet...
It tastes like Listerine.
Comet...
It makes your mouth turn green.
Comet...will make you vomit.
So buy some comet, and vomit today.
I think that there was another one about diahrea, cha cha cha. Oh yeah, and "Beans, beans, the magical fruit, the more you eat, the more you toot, the more you toot, the better you feel, so eat your beans at every meal."
Funny how things stick with you as you get older. What sticks with you and what falls away. These turns of phrase pop into my head at random times. I long to say, "Well, your face is killing me! Ha ha ha!" when someone complains of a sore back or something. Yet I refrain, for fear of being thought as silly as I once thought my stepdad. Now I realize that these are ingrained in my mind as part of my home life. My childhood. The life with my mother and stepdad before things took a turn or two for the worse and they became miserable together.
He came over to my grandparents' house on Christmas Eve...quite chatty, although the cause of that was quite evident based on the bobbing and weaving. He said, after a discussion of how the in-laws in our family are referred to as outlaws, how he's the only one who's still invited to family events after divorce, he pats my shoulder and says, "And this...this is still my favorite ex-daughter."
Priceless. Dysfunctional. And totally priceless.
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Ruminations
The Holidays
Were good, but weird. Not entirely traditional. I am very happy to be home, I must say. Boom supremely enjoyed his vacation, I think. An entire week of kennel-free life, along with sprinting the entire expanse of my grandparents' three-ish acres, five dogs for the humping, and the opportunity to roll in something dead. I felt like the wicked witch this morning when I had to lock him up in his crate for his first nine-hour stint in a week and a half.
Benson's Market
It's this little mom & pop grocery down the road from us. The only place that I've ever been that offers cat food, potted meat, dishwashing liquid and diced tomatoes all in one aisle, with a view of the raw meat at the end. I always expect this great, hometown service when I go there, and I never get it. Never a warm smile, no small talk. Perhaps it's got something to do with my always running in there when they are about to close. Or maybe I'm hoping for too much. I sort of feel like it's a civic duty to go there and buy something, to help keep the little man in business. Maybe they don't appreciate the favor? Maybe I'll just go to WalMart then! So there.
New Year's Resolutions
I'm formulating them in my head. I haven't written them down yet. But I'm feeling really positive right now. I want to make some changes and stick to them. I know that's what everyone wants at this time of year, so I guess just lump me in with the masses. But I had my Y membership before January, so I'm at least still feeling confident about that. More to come on these later.
Were good, but weird. Not entirely traditional. I am very happy to be home, I must say. Boom supremely enjoyed his vacation, I think. An entire week of kennel-free life, along with sprinting the entire expanse of my grandparents' three-ish acres, five dogs for the humping, and the opportunity to roll in something dead. I felt like the wicked witch this morning when I had to lock him up in his crate for his first nine-hour stint in a week and a half.
Benson's Market
It's this little mom & pop grocery down the road from us. The only place that I've ever been that offers cat food, potted meat, dishwashing liquid and diced tomatoes all in one aisle, with a view of the raw meat at the end. I always expect this great, hometown service when I go there, and I never get it. Never a warm smile, no small talk. Perhaps it's got something to do with my always running in there when they are about to close. Or maybe I'm hoping for too much. I sort of feel like it's a civic duty to go there and buy something, to help keep the little man in business. Maybe they don't appreciate the favor? Maybe I'll just go to WalMart then! So there.
New Year's Resolutions
I'm formulating them in my head. I haven't written them down yet. But I'm feeling really positive right now. I want to make some changes and stick to them. I know that's what everyone wants at this time of year, so I guess just lump me in with the masses. But I had my Y membership before January, so I'm at least still feeling confident about that. More to come on these later.
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