May 15, 2008

I could really use a nap about right now (also, mark your calendars!)

I’m not sleeping very well these days (nothing serious, just the usual insomnia, thanks for asking) but my current state of sleep-deprived crazy makes what I am about to tell you all the more bizarre to me: this book, the one you see right there?

I wrote two of the pieces in it. I think it’s two at least — I can’t really remember. Because I haven’t slept in so long.

I wish I had some charming story to tell you about How I Wound Up In This Book, but the truth is that Rita asked, and I said yes, and there it is. Okay, except for the part about how she worked her ass off for two years to get the book published, while the rest of us sat around and sipped martinis and shooed the children off to play in the yard.

Okay, maybe not that last part. But the part about how hard Rita worked to turn a bunch of blog posts into an actual BOOK, that you can actually BUY (at Amazon and Barnes & Noble, even!) is entirely true, and not exaggerated at all, nor is my deep admiration for her commitment to this project. Rita is truly my hero.

It’s a funny thing, really, this book — part of me feels like woo, a book, how fun! but another part of me is feeling a little weepy, because the very fact that this is a BOOK, one that that you can buy in an actual bookstore, speaks volumes about the value of what we do as mommybloggers. It also says that the primacy of book over blog may be slipping a little, that the whole notion that writers and bloggers are two different species is collapsing on itself. At least I hope that’s what is happening, because the bloggers included in this collection are some of my absolute favorite writers.

And here is one last bit of craziness: on September 13th, I will be doing a book signing at Full Circle Bookstore here in Oklahoma City. I swear to you that is the most surreal sentence I have ever written. I hope that if you’re in the OKC area you will come by and say hello (11:00 am, right after story time, which seemed appropriate) and maybe even buy a book! It would make my parents so happy.

May 3, 2008

recharged

For the last little while, by which I mean, oh, as long as we have lived in this house, which is nearly a YEAR now, you all, my laptop battery has been crapping out on me. Recently, like since my trip to New York, it started lasting a total of 11 minutes from the time I unhooked it from the wall plug (does that thing have a name? I’m sure it does) until it went into the Sleep of Death and demanded that I plug it back in if I wanted to finish whatever I was working on. I constantly had to find a plug if I wanted to work, which kind of limited where I could sit during the work day.

Oddly, this didn’t really bother me, because apparently my memory is very short and I had completely FORGOTTEN how much I loved things like taking the iBook into the sunroom to read my email or browse at J. Crew or sit on the sofa and IM with Chris about things we had talked about on the phone an hour earlier.

Oh and work. That too.

On Friday, I finally dragged myself to the Apple store and had a Genius diagnose the problem (the battery, she is dead! shocking, I know). As an aside, this is my second Apple Genius Bar experience, and while both Geniuses were professional and helpful, they both had the personality of a turnip and absolutely NO sense of humor. I’m funny, you all, especially when I am talking about my relationship to technology, but neither of these guys so much as cracked a smile. Apple, would it KILL you to teach the Geniuses to be smart AND funny? I think not.

Then again, the Geniuses fixed my beloved iBook, twice, so what am I bitching about? I have no idea.

Also last week, I was offered a job, a really good job, but in my dead battery state I didn’t think I could commit to it. And then I started to think that I couldn’t even keep up with the work I was currently committed to do so I cut back on a few things, and then I started to have some kind of Existential Crisis about, oh, I don’t know, EVERYTHING because OMG I CAN’T KEEP UP AND MY BATTERY IS DEAD. And I said no to the job.

And while I knew that it was the right thing to do, I also wondered if it was the wrong thing to do.

I lucked out, because after I declined the job they came back and offered it to me again. And when I told Wade, he said, “Take it. You know you want to.” And I realized that he was right. I do.

You know, now that I’ve got that new battery and everything.

April 29, 2008

things that are weighing on my mind

1. My hair is a disaster. I had it cut two weeks ago, and it’s already a mess. Also it is longer on one side than on the other, which makes me crazy. I think I need to change stylists, AGAIN, which REALLY makes me crazy.

2. On Sunday, we put mulch in the flower beds, over the flowers we planted on Saturday. I wound up with a wee sliver of redwood mulch in my finger, which REALLY hurt. Today it worked its way out and now my finger is fine. The human body is an amazing thing, you know.

3. Charlie has had at least one gigantic sobbing meltdown every day for nearly a week. I think he’s had it with the broken arm and the strep and the itching and the medicine and the missing school. And while I wish he would stop crying about his PANTS already, I feel for him; I would like to lie down and cry about my hair, for example (see #1).

4. My birthday weekend was lovely, clouded only by intermittent moments of badly behaved children, which is pretty much the norm around here.  But the entire quart of Thai peanut chicken salad that I ate made it all better.

5. I’m getting a new camera! Probably a Cannon Rebel, unless anyone has any other suggestions.  It needs to be very VERY simple to use and VERY easy to carry, because I am a delicate flower with a short attention span.  And a limited budget.  Just so you know.

And if you have any ideas about my hair, I would love to hear those, too.

Today is Tuesday, which means that while I was worrying about my hair and marvelling at the fact that my body PUSHED OUT A WOOD CHIP, I was also writing about other things, like what to wear to a new job and why the white handbag is the Perfect Bag for Summer. Go, read! You might learn something.

April 1, 2008

too sexy for my blog

Today in the car, I heard Right Said Fred’s I’m Too Sexy for My Shirt.  Nothing starts the day like a good 80s dance tune.  Too bad that wasn’t one.

Right now, my bed looks like this:

Which would be fine except that I really need to get some sleep.

I will be on the road for the next few days (assuming I can get all that stuff into the suitcase which is really still up in the air right now); I will also be taking this whole blogging gig on the road as well, in a virtual kind of way. You can read all about what I have in the suitcase and who I’m hanging out with and just how short Chris’ bangs are at Friday Style.  There will also be Flickr photos and lots of Twittering.

And Friday Playdate will be back on Monday.

Now I have to go jump up and down on the suitcase.  Wish me luck.

March 18, 2008

what have I been doing?

Chris called me this morning. “I linked to you today,” she said. “So you might want to post something.”

“Meh,” I said. “Maybe. If anything good happens today.”

Nothing happened. Seriously.

Wade and I are watching The Real Housewives of New York right now; it is truly mesmerizing. Like a black hole of stupidity. Really wealthy overdressed stupidity. It is also the most interesting thing that has happened all day.

I would look away, but Life in the Fab Lane isn’t on tonight. I love me some Kimora Lee Simmons. Seriously. All kinds of things happen to Kimora Lee. Also she owns 400 pairs of jeans, not a single one of which EVER makes an appearance on her show. Go figure.

Today is Tuesday, which means that I am all over the Internet (because good lord are you still here? nothing to see! move along! watching trashy Bravo reality TV! sheesh). At Work It Mom! I’m asking what you wear to work at home; at BlogHer I’m wondering what inspires you to get dressed up.  And at AisleDash I’m speculating about the marriages and tattoos of various celebrities. It’s a tough job but someone has to do it.

And now I have to get back to the Real Housewives.  I sense some drahmah coming.  God knows there was none of that in my day.

I’ll bet Kimora Lee had dramah today.  And 400 pairs of jeans.

March 6, 2008

petty larceny and teenage hi-jinks

Thank you all for your kind comments, and your assurances that karma is a bitch and she will certainly get the jerk who stole our stereo. I’m still pretty stunned about the whole thing, but I’m moving on. With the help of the Internet and that bottle of Absolut in the freezer, of course.

Also, tangentially related: we got our homeowners association newsletter today, which included a bit about how some of the neighbors have had their mail stolen. And while that pissed me off all over again (because WHAT IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE?!?) I had to giggle at the wording of the little piece, which included the phrases mailbox malfeasance, teenage hi-jinks, and post box plunderers.

Apparently my neighborhood is somewhere in the 1950s. Which is funny because the police officer who came to my door yesterday cut right to the chase and described our incident as LARCENY (which isn’t nearly as picturesque as a malfeasance, really, but is certainly more accurate).

Anyway …

In all the brouhaha, I completely forgot to mention that Michele interviewed me this week for her new site, Special Needs Parent. The interview is here — come on over and see how many times I can use the word “consistent” in the SAME PARAGRAPH! And then look around the site a bit, because Michele is an incredible resource, and she has developed such a wonderful site.

It was an honor to be included. And it has also convinced me to cut my hair already. So thank you, Michele! On both counts.