Feb 06, 2006 19:07
I just figured out what to get J for Valentine's Day!! Happiness! Most of you probably don't understand what a big thing this is for me. I, so far, have had a really tough time trying to figure out what to get him for various special occasions, and while he always says he's happy with what he gets, I will freely admit that he does a better job of getting me things than I do of getting him things. This is bad. But I did have a wonderful lightbulb moment while eating dinner, and I think I know exactly what I'll be getting him. And that's all I can say, because he reads this and he's horribly good at guessing what I'm getting him. So ... that's enough of that.
It must have been snowing in hell last week, because I have been told I will get a Mac at work. This Mac will have both Office and Quark, which means I will get to edit actual files, and not pages. This is outstanding! I may have to go get a copy of Quark for Dummies but that is a small price to pay for having the ability to make things right the first time. Plus I bet Ed McKay(?) has a dog-eared copy I can get for cheap.
I'm glad I have E for a roommate ... it makes watching the evening news much more enjoyable. We can both bash Bush and no one gets their panties in a twist. Today's bitchfest: How the Bush administration's budget is going to cut education expenses by 30%. However, spending on homeland security is up 10%, while defense spending is up 7%. So ... we'll have a bunch more stupid people in the country and then fewer people will know that "nucular," a word I bet Bush will have cause to use much more frequently, isn't actually correct. And I'll get spied on by the NSA for "anti-Bush" sentiments, only they'll call it "anti-American" because *then* it's OK to disregard the Constitution. Precisely.
The Bush bashing is the stuff of which arguments between J and I are made. And they say politics is one of those *big* areas that you should agree on, right up there with money, religion and parenting methods. *sigh* Well, I think we will be OK on the money thing. Likewise on the religion. We don't plan on being parents, so I won't think about that unless I have to. So I guess three out of four ain't bad.
In other news, Advil Migraine is the greatest stuff on earth. All those stress-induced pseudo migraines I get are taken care of by this stuff. It's fantastic. Kisses for Wyeth! ;-) Also, my uncle has opened a tobacconist's shop in my hometown. Premium stuff, mind you, not a scaled-down version of those huge cigarette outlets that line I-95. I think it's nice that I now have something I can talk to him about on his level. At first he seemed rather surprised that I retained as much as I had about all the stuff I read about every day, but then we started talking about various brands and what he thought would appeal to people. I hope he makes a go of it.
My grandmother's surgery went well ... it was cancer, but they caught it early and so no chemo or radiation. She will have to get checked every three months, which sounds highly unpleasant, but better than the alternative. My other grandparents died when I was very little, with the exception of my dad's stepmom, but as we lived 1000 miles from her, I was never very close to her, so it's not the same. The thought of losing Nana or Grandad, who've been close pretty much my whole life, is not something I want to think about. So I didn't. Even though I knew she was going to have surgery and I knew there was a possibility that they could find something *NOT GOOD* ... I just didn't let myself think that it would be anything really bad. I don't know if this sort of avoidance is healthy or not. :-\ Anyway, she's OK for now. Hopefully for a while.
I've come to the conclusion that while riding the cute little project pony mare is lots of fun, I'm limited in what I can do with her. One, the saddle that J got me for Christmas doesn't fit her. Unless she loses weight, there's really nothing I can do to it that wil make it fit her, and even if she did lose weight, there's no guarantee it'd fit her even then. If she was mine, the solution would be simple -- I'd have got a saddle that fit my horse for sure to begin with. But when you don't actually own a horse, it seems silly to spend the money to ensure that you've got a saddle that fits the horse you're currently riding, because there's no guarantee you'll be riding her in a year. Two, pony's owner still wants to take pony trail riding, which of course he should do. But that and a few other things have made me realize that I am not going to be able to put this pony into the serious training she'd need if we were to compete. Plus, I need lessons. And a trainer. I can't take the pony to the trainer, as the pony's not mine, and I can't afford to have the trainer come to where the pony is. So in a way, I'm stuck. It's tough to realize I'm going to have to wait another year, at least, to really get serious about riding again. It's one of the few things that really makes me happy no matter what else is going on in my life. As J says, it is my Pony Prozac. (Is that a Wyeth drug too?)
We are going away this weekend. I don't know where, because J, with a cute grin, refuses to tell me. At some point, I will need to know what the weather is expected to be wherever it is we're going, so I'll know what to pack, but I kind of like this unknowing. It's pleasant. And it will be really nice to just get out of town. Yay for two Saturdays!! :-D