Ah, Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha

It's hilarious to see what I wrote a few weeks ago, something about everything changing and promising job opportunities and resolution to this endless waiting. Plus actually being excited about the query process when I had forgotten how brutal and agonizing and soul-crushing it is, and how it actually involves MORE WAITING.

We (Bryce) didn't get the job in Seattle. I had such high hopes. His company is still dragging its feet on the Naperville move/housing situation. And only one showing on our house this month.

Ugh.

But. I was reminded yesterday why daughters are completely awesome. When I was having a poor-me, despair filled day yesterday, she brought me a plastic tiara and a sparkly magic wand and let me tell you, wearing a tiara makes everything better. I swear.

I may have to wear one every day. Or at least until life decides to be a little more kind.

Deathmatch: Illinois vs. Philippines

I miss the Philippines today. Like, a lot. I'm having one of those glossy nostalgia days where all the icky stuff fades away and all I can remember is the stuff I liked.

I liked church. People always took time to smile and say hello.

I liked our huge bedroom with the octagon ceiling.

I liked traveling to Subic Bay and Boracay and the occasional foreign country.

I liked the malls. They were quite spacious (read: gigantinormotastical). And the movies with assigned seating that cost $2.

I liked the pretty flowers and our wonderful helpers and going to the Costco-type warehouse store and the Gingersnaps semiannual sale for the cutest little girl clothes evah.

I liked going to Chili's where half the people on staff knew not only our names but what we usually ordered. And they had valet parking!

I liked people selling goofy stuff in the middle of traffic, like fishing poles and steering wheel covers. And those fake-nose-and-glasses combos.

I loved Christmas in Manila. And the month of January, because it wasn't too hot.

I loved the amazing friends we made there.


Illinois gets pretty lonely sometimes. The winters are chilly (read: arctic), and the water is very hard. (We're renting a water softener to preserve the shiny new dishwasher dear husband installed this weekend.) People don't want to hear about your problems. The typical reaction last September when our basement flooded went something like this: "Your basement flooded? Yeah. So did a lot of other people's." I guess the midwestern mentality of picking yourself up and moving on is totally practical and sturdy and all that. No room for pity parties. It's just that sometimes I want to whine a little before I strap on the Teflon suit and get to work.

One thing I do love: the temp hit around 60 degrees here on Saturday. Glorious!

I'll sign off with a link I found today of a commercial for Fun Ranch, the big kids' complex near our home in the Philippines. Our boys spent 14 hours at the shoot for this commercial, and earned about $45 apiece. They ended up with roughly one second of screen time each. Their American friends from church were in it too. Click the link to play spot the white kids!

Rants, Raves, and Randomness

Oh, dear. I’m definitely one of those bloggers who vacillates between productive spurts and long, dry spells.

I’ll pick up the ’08 review soon, hopefully, maybe. Honestly I’d rather not relive the first half of the year, but I’ll get to it eventually. *makes shifty eyes*

Rave: My big sister came from Denver to visit for a few days. It was so cool to see her. I drove to Chicago the night before her flight arrived to enjoy a peaceful night at the Hilton. It was heaven. After the airport we hit the Ikea, then talked the whole way back to Peoria. Man, I missed you, Sis! Hope we can do it again soon.

Rant: When I worked at Stampin’ Up! there was a woman who sold homemade brown-sugar scrub. It was divine. I’ve never tried a product since that could even come close. With the cold temps here my skin is like sandpaper, so I’ve tried the Wal-Mart brand of hazelnut scrub, which smells pretty good but doesn’t leave your skin any softer. I tried Bath & Body Works scrub, which works well, but I’m having issues with the scents. The first one I bought, Vanilla Blackberry Jasmine or some such thing, gave me a migraine as soon as I opened it. That went back to the store in a hurry. Next came mandarin lime, which has been the best so far, but it was the last one they had, so when it ran out I bought mint. Big. Mistake. I used some this morning and I smell like menthol shaving cream. It’s squicking me out just sitting here typing. Ugh.

Such problems, right? I’m also searching for a decent lotion that lasts a long time but doesn’t smell weird. Curel is the best I’ve found so far, but the hunt continues for that one perfect product. I never thought I’d miss the suffocating humidity of the Philippines, but the one benefit was perpetually soft skin.

Rave: On Monday the kids went sledding for the first time. (Although I think we took the First-Born sledding pre-Philippines, but that was years ago.) Middle Child had a blast. Completely fearless. Baby Screech…screeched. She is not a cold-weather child, which kind of makes sense considering where she was born. We went with the Johnson family and had a really great time, until the very last run when First-Born and my friend Lori had a spectacular crash with a little boy who crossed in front of them. No broken bones, thank goodness, but Lori got a heck of a shiner.

Random: The boys are into Pokemon and are always talking about powers and abilities and battles. They thought up powers for themselves, though I forget what those are, and then they decided that their baby sister has Screech power. Hence the use of her current nickname, Baby Screech. Never before in the history of the world has there been a more appropriate imaginary power bestowed upon such a deceptively harmless-looking child.

Rant: Our home warranty policy bites the big one. Our dishwasher broke a month ago and after several calls, they finally sent a guy out to take a look. He charged us $95 and told us the hard water basically destroyed the dishwasher. He left and we heard nothing for days. We followed up again last night to find out that sediment build-up isn’t covered.

Aaaaaaaaagggggggggggggggghhhhhhhh! Thanks for letting us know, people. And for taking so long to do absolutely nothing except charge us $95.

American Home Shield, I renounce thee! The unhelpful, villainous crooks.

Random: I’m entering two stories in the Highlights Fiction Contest this month. One’s already in the mail; the other will go out this week. It’s not a genre I’m totally comfortable writing. I definitely prefer longer pieces for older readers, but it was good for me to stretch a little. Heck, it was good for me to write, period, since the current work-in-progress has me pulling out clumps of hair.

Random: 30 Rock is a funny, funny show. We caught up on the first two seasons through NetFlix. The Husband tells me that I’m Liz Lemon. Or Tina Fey. Or some cross between the two. Should I be scared that I relate so well to so many of Liz’s dysfunctional traits? Blergh.

Happy Wednesday, World!

That Daniel Powter Song

[cue the song about the bad day]

You drop your spoon on the floor at breakfast and then you step in a puddle in your socks and pretty soon it feels like the world is mocking you, its cruel laughter following you from room to room. You snap at your kids for no reason; your unmet goals become laughable pipe dreams. You fail to do anything productive before lunchtime and suddenly you've forever marred any chance of a happy life. Your entire future crumbles down around your ears, all because you dropped your spoon (or stubbed your toe, or ran out of Cheerios, or broke your favorite bottle of nail polish).

That was me today. (I made some of it up, but you get the idea.) I'm still in desperate need of some happy quotes. So here we go:

[cue Don't Stop Believin' by Journey]

"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams." -Eleanor Roosevelt

[cue any Yanni song]

"You wake up in the morning, and lo! your purse is magically filled with twenty-four hours of the magic tissue of the universe of your life. No one can take it from you. No one receives either more or less than you receive. Waste your infinitely precious commodity as much as you will, and the supply will never be withheld from you. Moreover, you cannot draw on the future. Impossible to get into debt. You can only waste the passing movements. You cannot waste tomorrow. It is kept for you." -Arnold Bennett

Looking forward to some new, unused magic tissue when I get up in the morning.