My aunt (in law) sent us a Christmas package--very sweet of her. In it, she included candy, a little sled knick-knack, and some wooden blocks with letters and pictures on them, the idea being that they're supposed to spell out "Merry Christmas." They don't. Hence the blog title (they do spell that). * This began promisingly: A few minutes ago, H was tugging my pants down around my ankles on the living room floor. There was some biting involved. Perhaps a few rugburns. Alas. He doe...

H got a bookkeeping job here in town--yesterday was his first day. The business is in disarray and he's quite pleased about helping them get everything organized and back on track. I would die if I had to do it, but that's what he's good at. Ironically, the dream job H applied for and did not receive was for Marsh & McLennan, the embattled insurance company who announced today that they're laying off 3,000 workers. And he probably would've been one of them. Funny how things work out in way...

Today is a good day. Today I lined up two interviews and H lined up one, and I heard of what may turn out to be a freelance writing job. Today we're happy. There will be days that aren't like today, days where we'll cry and feel let down, feel as though the bottom has gone out from under us. But not today. Today we're hopeful. Another Forum-Free Post

These are mine, in no particular order: #10 Canterbury Road -- Oxford, England This is where I lived the semester I attended Oxford. There were 20 of us Americans squashed into three upper floors; our resident director Greg "Grendel" lived in the basement. We shared a kitchen, three bathrooms but one shower, a common room, a computer room, and a payphone in the lobby. It was grand. My two roommates and I lived on the top floor and we had one of those windowboxes/balconies, the kind that...

1) ...click on a blog with an interesting title, then wish you hadn't when you've read its contents? Wish people would stop commenting so the little blue flag would go down in the queue? 2) ...just want to write and not want comments, so you mark it as "private"? 3) ...wish some bloggers would get off their high horses or come out of attack dog mode? 4) ...misspell something egregiously and correct it before anyone can notice, except you weren't quick enough so they make fun of you? ...

Was phoning my former bosses, a married couple, for whom I worked as a rafting guide for several summers. They're listed as references for many of the jobs I've been seeking. We've become good friends and they came to H's and my wedding this summer (we scheduled it especially for their availability). Good people, they are. The three summers I worked for them were the best in my life, hands down--if I could make a living as a rafting guide, I would. Er, anyway, I was phoning them: In the ...

I love tea. It's something I picked up from my brief stints in England. I love the teapot, sugar and cream, the cup--and mostly just sitting for a few minutes being contemplative. I love McVities Hobnobs and the caramel biscuits to munch or dip as I please. Sometimes I read a book. Sometimes I just look out the window. I never blog, and I never watch TV during teatime. Simply, I enjoy the time and don't want to be upset or excited, which makes me wonder: If I were to sit down for tea with ...

Have you ever taken the time to write a pretty well-thought-out article, only to have someone steal it and rewrite it on their blog? It's a little irritating. Not bad, but kinda like a fly in the room that won't leave irritating. In the literary world it's called "plagiarism" but I wouldn't describe it as such in the blogging world. That happened to me a couple months ago. The offending user replied to my article, then someone addressed her/his comment, and rather than responding to that...

Okay, for all you Office Space fans, you remember when Lawrence and Peter are talking about what they'd do with a million bucks, Lawrence says, "Two chicks at the same time." Peter says, "Nothing. I'd sit on my ass all day, and do nothing." Sometimes I aspire to Peter's sentiments, but after meeting some of the biggest idiots on the highway yesterday, this is what I'd do when I felt like sitting on my ass in a car: I'd buy a beater car--a big non-SUV one, like a Lincoln Towncar or one of...

This week at my office, we've gone through two bottles of Lysol and at least as much soap in the bathroom and wash station. Not because we're dirty (it's a very clean, paperwork office) but because this stupid co-worker (Ditz-boss), who is salaried and doesn't have to worry about taking time off, has come to work anyway and God knows why, probably to infect us all with her dirty germs (a less common and less deadly form of germ warfare). It's not that she sneezes all over the papers she h...

This idea is a work in progress. As are most of my ideas, come to think of it. It's actually a spinoff of an idea I had about people on JU, but I'm not stupid enough (or kiss-ass enough) to name names. 1. Negativos. These are the people who couldn't see the light at the end of a tunnel with night-vision goggles. They see the world as full of horrible people, political quagmires, and shoddy policies be they government or company (or JU), and these people can't seem to gain a balanced ...

Dear Madame X and Madame Y, Yes. I *can* hear you when you talk about me. The fact that my cubicle is about five feet from yours should give you some kind of clue. The fact that you always glance over guiltily at me is a sign. The fact that I'm still speaking to you is a miracle. Yes. I am a temp. *gasp* Only losers are temps, right? Must be. I know I went to college for five years to get two degrees to work in your office where, according to your last conversation, I am not qualified ...

I hate teenage girls. Not all teenage girls, actually; just the sixteen-year-olds driving brand new Mitsubishis who toss their burning carcinogenic litter out the window and then flip me off when I honk at them, and insolently flip another smoking piece of tobacco at the light just before they turn off. Now let me say, I have nothing against sixteen-year-olds, or girls, or smokers, and I have only a bit of contempt for parents who buy their kids brand new cars when they get their license...

Unemployment blog: Day 36. Have taken to wearing no underwear in hopes that will go through underwear more slowly, thereby saving self laundry $. Also is bloody hot here. Scarcely goes below 100 in daytime and below 70 at nighttime. . Magazines not buying my articles. "Ran that one two months ago" (No you didn't, liar; am not stupid, do in fact read magazine back issues for that very reason) "Like your style but we're just not interested right now" Actually, am making those up: rejection s...