Disappearing Act

I’ve been a bit absent from the blog lately. Partially, it’s been due to the holidays, work and both mine and Chris’ birthdays. But mostly, it’s because right as I was hitting “post” on my last entry, my dad called to tell me that my grandpa was in the hospital and probably wouldn’t make it. He didn’t. He died on Christmas Eve.

Just like when Rachel died, I find I can’t write about it. I have no problem pounding out 500 words about the ridiculousness of umbrellas or shoes seen at Nordstrom. But when it comes to something I actually care about, something that actually means something to me, I’m at a loss for words.

Instead, I keep thinking about how my grandpa told me at my wedding that it was the best wedding he’s been to in a long time. Or how I feel bad for moving away to college and living in Syracuse and missing some of the last seven years of his life. Or feeling guilty that the last time Chris and I went to visit him and my grandma, we prolonged our trip until halftime of the Bears game. I remember how, when we left their condo that day, he insisted on walking us down the hallway to the elevator, and he stood there smiling and waving until the elevator doors closed between us.

And in the words of Forrest Gump, that’s all I have to say about that.

Her Name is Rosie

As I’ve mentioned many, many times, Chris and I have a beautiful Rottweilier named Rosie. Here is a picture of her, or more accurately, a picture of her gigantic ass:



Anyway, to us, Rosie is more than just a dog. She is our baby. In fact, there have been many times when Chris and I have hypothesized that someday, we will probably like Rosie more than our actual children.

But sometimes, I suspect Chris likes the dog more than me. Why? You see, pre-Rosie, Chris used to make up little songs about me. These were nice little songs about me being pretty or him loving me. But for the past three years, all his songs have been about the dog. Although, it’s not really accurate to say he makes up these songs. Rather, he takes songs that already exist and changes the words. For example, we have:

Her Name is Rosie
This song is based on Suzanne Vega’s “Luka.” It goes like this: Her name is Rosie/ She lives on the third floor/ She sleeps right next me/ Yes I think you’ve heard her snoring before.

Sweet Rose
This is an adaptation of Lou Reed’s “Sweet Jane.” It goes: Jack, he was a banker/ And Rose…. She was a dog/ You can hear Jack say/ Sweet Rose/ Sweet Rose

Stink Puppy
Finally, we have this one, based on “Brass Monkey” by the Beastie Boys. This one’s pretty basic: Stink Puppy/ That stinky puppy/ Stink puppy, puppy/ That stinky puppy

There are others, but you get the idea. Perhaps I should be concerned, but then again, I do enjoy singing along.

Sarah Pot Pie

Saturday was my three-month anniversary, and yesterday was the first time I have worked out since the big day. It was pathetic, but it felt great. Attempting to run for any length of time was a joke, but I still managed to at least stay on the treadmill for 20 minutes, even though I walked for most of that and barely broke a sweat. And despite the fact that this workout featured very little “work,” I am super sore today. That’s a good sign, I suppose.

It’s amazing how quickly I fell out of all the good habits I formed pre-wedding. A lot of that is due to my job. I feel like I am just now beginning to catch up from the two weeks I took off for my honeymoon. Granted, since the wedding we’ve increased our department by two people, which I had to interview and hire, and we’ve had two people leave — one which I had to replace and one that was my boss. So, it’s been a bit crazy ’round here, and I’ve struggled to leave early enough everyday to get home and walk the dog, let alone have time to workout.

Still, I could have gone to the gym on the weekends. And a heavy workload does not excuse my all pasta-cheese-and-fried-food diet of late. That I blame on the weather. During the summer, I had no problem eating a salad for lunch or dinner. But now, with the wind and the snow and the air, all I want is a heaping bowl of warm gooey fried cheese comfort food.

For example, after Thanksgiving we froze most of our turkey leftovers, and on Sunday I finally turned those leftovers into a meal. I made this lovely Paula Deen turkey pot pie recipe that has been busy clogging my arteries for the past two days. For those of you unfamiliar with Paula Deen, all of her recipes follow a similar theme: cook some fat, add some more fat, cover it all with sugar.

Her turkey pot pie recipe was no exception: cook some cheddar cheese soup and cream of celery soup, add some turkey and stuffing, cover it all with pie crust.

And it’s amazing. And comforting. And about 800 calories per serving. I had three.

So it’s back to the gym I go — that familiar place that’s comforting in its own way .. even though one of the four TVs is always, without fail, tuned to the Food Network. Ever try working out while watching Unwrapped? I don’t recommend it.

Self-Portrait Challenge: Red, Red Wine

This month's Self-Portrait Challenge theme is RED. So, I was going to write a little tribute to red vino for this post, but after this little exchange with Chris, I had to change it all:

Chris: What's the theme of this post?

Me: It's Red, so I decided to go with Red, Red Wine.

Chris: (singing) Red red wine, you make my feet so fine...

Me: Wha?? Feet?

Chris: Those are the words, right?...

Me: Nooooo! (laughing hysterically) It's you make me FEEL so fine.

Chris: .....um, please don't put this in your blog.


Sorry honey. But to make you feel better, here's an equally embarassing photo of me:

This is disgusting...

... but hilarious. Go read THIS right now — but don't say I didn't warn you.

November E-Music

It must be the change in the seasons, because I was feeling a little metal this month. Mix in some June Carter Cash, and you've got yourself a strange collection of downloads.

Amebix - Arise Plus Two
June Carter Cash - Wildwood Flower
Coalesce - functioningonimpatience
Deadguy - Work Ethic
Earth Crisis - Firestorm
Hey Mercedes - Loses Control
Lambchop - How I Quit Smoking
Nothingface - Violence
Refused - The Shape of Punk to Come

My Office = Center of the Universe

I never thought that working for a publishing company that covers IT, HR and learning & development would lead to so many strange connections. But it turns out that people within this company are somehow connected to everyone I've ever known ever. For example:

- Not long after I started here I learned that our designer was pretty good friends with another guy who works across the hall. Turns out the guy across the hall lives with one of my best friends from high school.

- While editing a press release submitted to us a few months back, I noticed that one of our very close family friends was quoted, who helped launch an HR company.

- One of our newest hires, who grew up and went to college in North Carolina, has a bunch of close friends that went to Mizzou, two of which I used to work with at the library depository.

- After learning that I had actually heard of the band Assuck, our webmaster invited me to see the band HeWhoCorrupts on Saturday. The guys in that band are good friends of my ex, Dave. Turns out our webmaster freelances for HeWhoCorrupts, has met Dave and is planning to go see Dave's band, Chicago Thrash Ensemble, on Dec. 2.

We live in a crazy, small, small world folks.

Like man's best friend

It's occured to me recently that I'm ridiously loyal to big business. Although, not really loyal so much as lazy.

For example, I've had the same Hotmail account since I was 18. And even though I'm fed up with Hotmail and my "Stoner" address isn't exactly professional, I keep on using it. Why? Because I'm too lazy to re-educate all my contacts on a new e-mail account.

I also still have the first credit card I ever opened. It' s got an insanely high APR, and I now rarely use it. But I can't bring myself to actually close the account. (Part of that has to do with my attempt to establish a long, illustrious credit history, but I could probably accomplish that through some of my other cards).

I've had a Verizon cell phone, and only a Verizon cell phone, for years. Could I get better service and cheaper rates with another company? Probably. But I've already got my online bills set up through Verizon, and alas, I'm lazy.

Then there's this blog. Although I haven't been blogging very long, I soon realized after starting this one that other blogging sites, such as Typepad, have more features that I'd like, such as a labeling system. But I'm too lazy to actually move everything over.

However, this time my loyalty has paid off. Blogspot has released a new version of its system that has all kinds of new gizmos for my blogging pleasure. This happens to coincide with my plans revamp the old blog a bit. So, expect a few changes here and there over the next few weeks. Hooray!

Resolution No. 1

I've done a little bit to address that first resolution on my list of not-quite-New-Year's Resolutions. I haven't actually done any freelancing yet, per se, but I did set up this happy little place:

www.stonewunder.com

Just don't try to navigate beyond the home page, 'cause I ain't got that set up yet. I'd work on those now, but the Simpsons episode where Homer goes to clown college is on, and well, I have my priorities.

eMusic Additions

So back in August I said I was going to update my eMusic downloads every month. Then I promptly forgot about it. So anyway, here's what I've gotten since then:

2006 Pitchfork Music Festival Sampler
Bad Brains - Bad Brains
The Blood Brothers - This Adultery Is Ripe
Descendents - Milo Goes to College
Steve Goodman - Affordable Art
The Hives - Veni, Vidi, Vicious
My Morning Jacket/Songs: Ohia - split
Gram Parsons - Another Side of This Life
The Redwalls - Universal Blues
Samiam - Billy
The Staple Singers - Best of the Staple Singers
Susan Tedeschi - Better Days
Paul Weller - Illumination
The White Stripes - Get Behind Me Satan


And now for no reason whatsoever, here's a picture from the wedding.