I’m weary and befuddled — so befuddled, in fact, that I just accidentally published this piece tonight instead of the intended Tuesday morning.
So, no deeply insightful post today. Instead, I present a few highlights from my life/brain.
Where’s my wife trophy? (Not to be confused with a trophy wife.)
Eleven days from now at 10 a.m., Tim and I will be popcorned-up and watching The Force Awakens. (Well, at that point we’ll be watching trailers. But dammit that doesn’t sound as emphatic!)
Originally, we were going out of town for his birthday on the 19th, so I had taken Friday off. Because of the trip, I didn’t even try to get tickets to Star Wars on his birthday.
Alas, the road trip fell through. But I still had Friday off.
So on Monday I decided to check Fandango. Given the late date, I didn’t have any real hope of finding it. Even less so because I was only checking places with reserved seating. There was no way either of us would be up for spending hours in a line to get good seats.
But sure enough, Friday at 10 a.m. the 3D version had two seats together — just one row down from where we normally sit. (So I guess that makes it A New Hope? Sorry. I was ashamed even as I typed that. Just not enough not to type it.)
And so I score a kajillion wife points by getting Tim tickets for opening-friggin-day. I really need to cash those in at some point…
The only downside is that I had to actually pay out of pocket, since the seats would be gone before I could get the theater and get them to accept the pass. But happily, 10 a.m. is a matinee. So even with a 3D viewing, we paid $19.20 for both tickets.
Oh, tannenbaum
The tree is up! I actually got it up on Friday night. And I decorated it on Saturday.
As you can see in the picture, our awesome tree topper got here. Here’s a close up:
I realized something: I’m awfully frugal about Christmas decorations. We don’t bake (so no extra groceries), and we don’t fuss with any decorations other than a tree.
Meanwhile, the tree is a fake. One-time expense, baby! And almost all of the ornaments on it are from my childhood or college years.
Getting weak…
The sugar cravings have been bad. I’m having a hard time avoiding sugar. Doesn’t help that my aunt sent peanut brittle. It’s just sitting on the counter, smug in its deliciousness.
I’m going to start using a SAD light just in case that’s causing any of the issue. But I think it’s just the sheer inundation of holiday candy.
So I’ve set a goal for myself: I can have sugar on Christmas Even and Christmas Day. I’m hoping that with a goal that’s less than three weeks away, I can make it that long. If not, oh well. But it’s worth a shot.
I’m really still here
I won’t be commenting on blogs as much, but I promise I’m going to do the best I can.
During most of the year, I get intervals during work that will let me peruse the ridiculous number of blogs on my reading list.Then again, most of the year I only wake up to about 60 emails with another 40ish coming in throughout the day.
Comparatively, these days I’ve been waking up to 90+ with another 25-30 coming in while I answer those. It takes me about five hours to catch up. The next two hours see at least two emails every 10 minutes.
The last hour tends to (finally) be pretty quiet. Unfortunately, that time is spent checking to be sure that the other employees have addressed customer emails I had to forward and sending follow-up emails to customers who haven’t responded to our questions.
In short, this is the time of year where I actually have to do my job. It’s quite frustrating, how much that cuts into my other activities.
I’ve trimmed my reading list, so that I now have a top 40ish. Which is still insane, time-wise, but I’m going to do my best to get through all of them at least twice a week.
And I always prioritize people who comment on or share my pieces or who I know are regular readers. That’s not meant to be the bribe it sounds like. I’m just letting you know that you guys are all very important, and you’ll receive my attention first.
Finally…
Could everyone stop naming children stupid things?
Here’s are a few ways to know when the proposed baby name is a bad idea:
- It’s obviously the place the child was conceived
- It’s a compass direction (North)
- It’s grandiose (Kimye named the second kid Saint)
- It’s a fruit (Apple)
- It’s the name of an Instagram filter
- It’s from a fictional language (Danaerys)
- It’s from not even a name from a fictional language (Khaleesi is a tribal queen in a made-up universe.)
- It’s from a video game (Mortal Kombat’s Mileena and Blaze saw some play, apparently)
- It’s a damn planet (Venus Williams gets a pass because she could beat me up)
- It’s a fabric pattern (Paisley was the 65th most popular girl name this year.)
- They sound like they’re part of the name of a marijuana strain: Danger, Haze, Cash.
I packing the fiancé off on Thursday night- due to being on the west coast, we have 7 pm showings. He’s seeing it in IMAX 3D (the guy actually has Star Wars symbols tattooed on him, I’m a Dr. Who and Star Trek kinda girl), which gives me a blistering headache on good days- which an insanely crowded opening is not. So, he’s taking his Christmas present from a year ago (the voice command R2-D2) and this year (BB-8), and his birthday gift (double bladed light saber from Ultrasabers), and getting his geek on. He’s going with his father and siblings, so I’m being given a pass.
Our big tree is half up (it’s 12 feet, so this is pretty good progress), and my small tree takes half of an afternoon (and all of that is sitting down). My holiday baking is more than half way done- the blanks for both kinds of sandwhich cookies are baked and ready for filling, the biscotti are currently in the oven, and the batches of candies (caramel, peppermint bark, and fruit jellies) are ready to be cut up and packaged. Since the jams, jellies, marmalade, and apple butter are made throughout the year, it’s really easy to just tuck them into the baskets (clearance at World Market after Easter). Since everything’s from scratch, the biggest expense is the canning jars.
As for kids’ names, I always liked what my great aunt said- you never realize how many people you dislike until you are trying to name a child. Then again, this is the woman who was actively compaigning to have me named Brunhilda, so take that as you will.
Tim really wants a BB-8. At some point, he’ll probably use some of his fun money for it. After he reads your comment, though, I foresee being asked to look up Ultrasabers.
If you’re a Doctor Who gal, I guess you can truly appreciate our tree topper. We’re finally getting caught up on this most recent (in the U.S.) season of Doctor Who.
And yeah, Tim and I have talked about kids’ names. Several of mine were vetoed due to bad experiences with women he knew. But I suppose we’ll table the conversation until we know for sure I can actually produce offspring.
I warn you now, the Ultrasabers are insane. I managed to hit a major sale, and even then it was a very special treat. The big reason they’re so expensive is that they are so-called ‘battle ready’- i.e. If two Star Wars fans decide to have a light saber duel, these will stand up to it. The one I got even has sound (the sale was a light saber with sound for the price of one without sound).
As for the BB8- I got it for a really insanely cheap price when I upgraded my phone (my old phone died… hard). Since the upgrade came with X amount in free accessories, I just used that amount towards the BB8 and a pair of nice headphones and ended up paying just tax.
Yeah, I assumed the ultrasabers would be out of our price range, just based on the name. But I think I’ve actually seen some videos of them. So yeah, maybe he’s already resigned himself to an ultrasaber-less fate.
Way to go on the BB-8! Tim wants to chase Patches around the house with it. Honestly not sure how long it’ll keep him interested, though, hence my not buying it out of the general funds.
You get my nomination for “wife of the year”…. Tim must be over the top…Star Wars in 3-D…for under $20!! Pretty amazing from where I’m sitting!
Yeah, he’s pretty excited. Given all the pre-sales, he was sure we wouldn’t even get to see it until January.
Saint? Thats definitely new for me, but not as odd as “Evening”, although come to think about it, ” Eve” sounds perfectly OK.
Here’s the best one I’ve heard so far. A doctor from Malawi once told me he had a patient named “Pencil”!
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Huh, hadn’t heard of Evening. Or Pencil, for that matter. But at least the excuse there (based on your phrasing) is that the person was a non-native English speaker.
If the movie had been scheduled to come out a week earlier, I’d have gone for my b-day (the 10th). As it is, I’ll be happiest the day after Christmas. But please, no spoilers! Love the weeping angel! Merry Christmas to you all!
Don’t worry, I’m strongly anti-spoiler. Other than saying if we did/didn’t enjoy it, I doubt I’ll say much about it. Happy early birthday!
The baby names is killing me because I may or may not have some relatives who are guilty of any/all of the above.
Cutting out the sugar is tough as crap. I have one party day coming up, and then have to wait until I’m on vacation. To be honest, I’ve done Whole 30s and whole 60s in the past and never kicked a sugar craving. Good luck with that peanut brittle though (and those tempting mint M&Ms- if you give in, eat some for me too).
Oh yes, there will be mint M&Ms.
Normally, the protein bars help with the sugar cravings, but lately it’s only been to make a dent in them. Hopefully, the SAD light helps too. It seems silly to worry about such things in Phoenix, but I don’t go out much and am especially sensitive as a depressive.
PS. If you have a relative who named a kid Khaleesi, you have a legal right to disown them. I looked it up.
Faramir, Tripp, Cash (and a few friends with Paisley and Danaerys).
Good people with kids who will know how to fight.
OMG, and a friend with a child Oeste (West in Spanish, and also pronounced West), and Messiah, and a Nevaeh Venus, and another friend who’s child’s middle name is Link (after the video game character).
Man, I feel really good about my naming choices right now.
Tim says he can understand the Link thing since it’s a middle name. I’m still not sure.
At least they kept it to the middle name, unlike Robin Williams who named his daughter Zelda. I imagine she’s actually glad he named her after a video game instead of something else- he did play Warhammer and Warhammer 40K, which has such lovely names as Nurgle.
Yeah, you might suggest martial arts training early on.
Kid’s not going to need training, they’ll get plenty on the job, so to speak. That said, I’m quite certain we have a video game kid in our circle.
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How about awesome baby names like Pilot Inspektor, Racer and Rocket. I used to wonder, then, well, I just quit. My logic never seems to get to that level.
(And some of us have been readers for a while, just rarely post. Anxiety/social phobia just doesn’t like the post button. )
I was going to mention Moxie Crimefighter and Kal-El. I’d forgotten about Pilot Inspektor. It’s like they don’t love their kids.
I’m sorry to hear that those issues keep you from posting much. I always appreciate my regular readers. I know there are a lot of you who just read and don’t postOtherwise, my comments section would be ridiculous. It means a lot that you guys keep coming ’round, even if you don’t say much in the comments.
If you have a blog (I’m about 99% sure you do?) just email me with the URL. I’ll be sure to put it in the prioritized list.
I think a rapper named his kid jermajesty (like her majesty but in rapper fashion).
Like you having to learn to live with your health problems, I’ve learned and am still learning to live with it. It’s been with me as long as I can remember. My only wish is that I would have been diagnosed earlier. I’m in my mid-thirties now and was only diagnosed about three and a half years ago. That was more of me stumbling onto information and having a confirmation by my doctor.
There are people like me that write comments, and then think, “Nah…”. Only to pause a few seconds later and think, “Why can’t I just hit the GD button?”.
I tried blogging but it’s still inside the zone of anxiety…I would post and think, “Oh my god, what if someone sees and knows me?!” and take it down. I’ve only just gotten to the point where I can post on blogs and leave it be instead of posting and thinking, “What if someone reads it and knows it’s me?!” and delete it.
(I just hope sometimes by mentioning it it helps others who also wonder what is going on and don’t realize that it is a valid problem. And it can be helped.)
I think that a lot of people right around our age had our issues dismissed. “Cry baby” for kids prone to depression/sensitivity and probably several euphemisms for what turned out to be anxiety. It’s such a nebulous thing unless it’s crippling (and even then, as kids they were probably dismissed).
I even found myself thinking the other day that anxiety is so prevalent that it’s probably over-diagnosed. Then I thought, “How *dare* I think that?” I’d be outraged if someone said that about depression, which tons of people are diagnosed with. It’s, I think, just that anxiety is now finally being properly diagnosed and that people are finally less ashamed to talk about it — just like depression. Unrealized biases are a bitch.
It’s such a nebulous thing unless it’s crippling (and even then, as kids they were probably dismissed).
True. I’ve always hated crowded places. I’ve always been the person in Wal-Mart at 5 in the morning, because I could never take crowds. When I was in high school, the week before school began, I would sit with a map of the school and chart how to get to each of my classes. I did not want to walk into a room full of people. A few years ago, I went with my parents to DC. They insisted one night for dinner going to a buffet. It was so crowded that I’m shocked I actually didn’t have a panic attack. I absolutely could not eat and did not want to get up to get food. My mom thought it was funny and my parents could not understand what I was going through. It was shear hell and all I wanted to do was leave.
I think that everyone is like that with something, though. Because people have very little to no experience, it seems trivial to them. And media pushes so much at us all the time with their views and then you have experts with their views. I was listing to a Wayne Dyer talk that he did within the last year or two, and he made a comment about social anxiety being about kids afraid to raise their hands in class. It shocked me and turned me against his stuff. I would think a person of his background would understand better. But you never know what hidden biases you or other people have until it surfaces.
You rock on the Wife Front. Having a husband who is a December baby, I know the importance of scoring those blockbuster tickets to make sure their birthday feels special and not an add on to Christmas.. (Jon’s is the 27th) Fortunately my stepmother bought tickets to the Force Awakens for the entire family on the 19th.
Good luck with the sugar. I need to try a sugar free period, but no way would I try to make it November/December. The best I could do was set up gift bags for Little Bit’s teachers with the leftovers from the Advent calendar to make sure there were no extra Reese’s cups around.
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Haha, well remember that I’m not doing a complete sugar ban. Just sugary stuff. I don’t have the time or energy to try to avoid all processed sugar. And yeah, last year it wasn’t so bad because I was staying honest for Tim. Now it’s just a personal conviction that I feel better when I’m not eating it. Or rather, about 2-3 days after I stop eating it.
OMG I’m seriously the baby name police. I always tell me friends never to tell me what they plan on naming their kid because I have no poker face if I hate it. I didn’t know that was the name for Kim’s new baby. That kid is now destined to be a troublemaker, Well how can you not be when that ass-hat Kanye is your dad. I’m doing OK with the sugar (trying not to touch one single sweet) and hope I can hold out to Christmas Eve/Day when I plan on having unlimited pumpkin pie! Nice job on the star wars tickets. I can’t wait to see it but planned on waiting a couple weeks until the hype dies down (so she says right now).
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How great for Tim that he gets to see the movie in 3D on his birthday. Oh, yes, you earned an infinite number of wife points, Abby. Well done!
Collect wife points! Trade them for valuable prizes!
On Sunday I mentioned that I needed to get peanut brittle made to send out as gifts and DF said, “Let’s make some right now.” And 20 minutes later two big cookie sheets were steaming in the 5-degree outdoors. When the two of us make the candy together it seems so simple, mostly because he does all the stirring (my least favorite part) while I break up the peanuts and butter the pans.
Since we were on such a roll, I then turned out a batch of sea-salt caramels — easier than peanut brittle at first, because it’s just “boil five ingredients to 245 degrees and pour into a pan.” Later on I remembered why I make these only once a year: Because it took me almost two hours to cut the candy into small pieces, dip it into sea salt crystals and wrap individually.
But now it’s done! And once I get my batch of Alaska Dispatch News moose calendars, I’ll be ready to wrap and mail. Frugal bonus: If I print out the flat-rate postage labels at home I’ll save $7 or $8 total.
Your tree looks great. Maybe it’ll still be up when I arrive….?
On the unfortunate names front, I went to school with a Christmas Carroll and a Candy Mints. Linda B. went to school with a girl named Willie Mae Knott — who later married a guy whose last name was “Cope.” She also went to school with a girl whose last name was “Glasscock,” and whose parents clearly didn’t think things through because they named her “Iona.” Sheesh.
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I’d forgotten about the Willie Mae Knott. Poor lass. But Iona gets my full sympathy. Do people never say the full name out loud?
My rule of thumb for babies names is to look forward to the baby at 60 and consider how would that name sound on an adult. Why burden kids with a crazy name? Save the crazy for a nickname.
Yeah, I tend to picture them in business suits trying to introduce themselves. I think either one is a good litmus test.
When I was expecting and before we found out what the sex was, my husband and I would write the names we liked on a piece of paper and put it on the fridge. We would say the name out loud and I was adamant that the initials did not spell a word or something crude. For example, I liked the name Alexandra Brooke. But our last name starts with a “M”. The initials would be ABM. I don’t think so! My SIL and BIL liked Samuel Orion, but their last name starts with a “B”. SOB. No on that one too. Parents do need to be kind to their children when they name them.
Very smart! People don’t think about how initials will spell out. And your daughter will thank you for not having A BM as her initials. Assuming she hasn’t already.
Went to a baby shower this weekend. One of the games was ‘match the baby name to the celebrity couple’. Oh the ridiculousness! (I got 1 right out of 16)
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I think that just says something good about you. Every time I do go to US Weekly, I feel my brain going a little softer.
Good Luck with the sugar. I attempted to join The daily wisk challenge and failed miserably last month. However, I’m doing really well with no meat.
I actually like “different” names. It may or may not be obvious with names like Karrington, Ashton-Taylor, William and Princeton (which may be grandiose) since you mentioned it.
I like the names but would obviously never consider naming my children that 1.) because I do not plan on having anymore and 2.) I’d hate for them not be considered for an opportunity because of their name. Although, I think some of the names would not have that problem (Paisley or Saint).
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Well, she went a lot further in her challenge than I have. I still get protein bars that have 2 grams of sugar and a few of sugar alcohol. Which is still about 1/4 of a Snickers bar.
And I’ve broken a couple of times. I’m concentrating now on doing the best I can as often as possible and not beating myself up about the rest. Congrats on going meatless. That can be tough!
We won’t be doing much for Christmas, but our son’s birthday is the week before, and the one present he’s requested is for all of us to go to the new Star Wars movie with our friends. We probably won’t go opening week, though.
I don’t think we’ve bought any Christmas candy this year. Knowing us, that’s hard to imagine. I’m about over Christmas baking, though!
Should I point out that in addition to a planet, Venus is the name of a goddess? IMO it’s no different from naming a kid Diana or Athena. “Saint Claire” for girls or Sinclair for boys is a family name on my husband’s side. His aunt went by Saint Clair and was frequently called just Saint. Our son got the mail variant as a middle name.
I generally can’t get too worked up about the names people give their kids, but I do think “How will this sound when s/he introduces him/herself twenty-odd years from now in a work environment?” is a good litmus test.
Also, “How badly can someone bungle it up?” I know a Christoph who is very tired of being addressed as “Christopher” and a Gray who is frequently renamed “Gary” by inattentive readers.
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That’d be pretty frustrating. I know that Venus is the name of a goddess, but it’s the goddess of love. A little different than naming your daughter after Athena, the goddess of wisdom.
Well, there was Frank Zappa who named his kids Happa, Dweezil and Moon Unit, but we can all blame it on the drugs. My cousin’s son & dil just named their baby Bain. With that spelling. Can’t you hear the school yard taunts already? My hubby and I could never agree on a girl’s name, so it was good we had sons. At DS2’s high school graduation, when we were feeling all bittersweet, I said, “It’s a good thing he wasn’t a girl, or they’d be calling ‘Baby Girl Griffith’ right now.”
Super Wife Points for those tickets, and points for just being able to *resist* a major sugar rush this month. The bakery department can be a wicked place this time of year. Not to mention egg nog. Wait… does it count if it’s a liquid? 😉
Haha, well luckily eggnog doesn’t appeal to me remotely. And just wait for someone to *actually* name their kid “baby girl” or “baby boy.” Reminds me of a joke I heard once: “I have a friend, who shall remain nameless… due to extremely unimaginative parents.”
Is it terrible that I immediately started thinking of Bane quotes?
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No, because my cousin begged them NOT to name him that & listed off Bane jokes as a reason. It’s amazing to me that parents don’t automatically think about playground teasing (and/or adult teasing) when naming their kids. Our name can affect the way others perceive us… sometimes how we perceive ourselves. Of course it’s not fair. But it’s true.
I had a nephew who was born on Christmas to his mom doesn’t celebrate Christmas named Seven which I thought was kind of endearing. I though Abcde was stupid. I also known several boys classmates of mine named – Gaylord. Why? Why would you name your son that? I think everyone tries to go for “unique” but it just ends up sounding crazy. My kid’s After school leader is named Twinkle. Ms. Twinkle how do you sound professional with the name twinkle? unless of course you turn into a stripper.
Yeah, I think the pole is the only place with the name Twinkle.
I can hear it now: “The CEO, Twinkle, will now present shareholders with the annual report…”
Nope. Pole.
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Well, now I want to see this happen. Long Live CEO Twinkle!
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I got a head-ache just reading about your e-mail situation. Ugh! I said I was going to get a SAD light this year too, but I haven’t yet. I hope that you write about whether or not you find it effective. I think part of the reason I haven’t followed through is that I have doubts about whether or not it would actually do the trick. Happy birthday to your husband. Enjoy that movie! (And those wife points.)
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If you suffer from SAD, I think it’s worth a try. The one I use right now is one my boss got. It’s more to promote wakefulness, but I think it’s a similar light source.
But my mom’s SAD light was wonderful. She had it in Alaska when I was in college, and she brought it with her to Seattle. I’d sit in front of it while I ate breakfast, and I’d feel far more awake and less lethargic overall. They can’t be more than $150 (probably significantly less these days), so I’d recommend giving it a whirl. Maybe someone you know has one, and you can try it at their house.
Ok yeah, I’d never be able to be in the same room as your Christmas tree. Or town. Or state. Nope.
Naming kids: I’m really glad we didn’t come up with anything truly stupid, considering we made a game time decision. We probably should have waited a bit longer but it turned out ok.
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If we manage to procreate, I foresee a long battle about names. Tim has helpfully suggested that he could name the kid if it’s a boy, I would if it’s a girl. I’m 99% sure I’ll have a son (if I manage) so I politely vetoed that option.
I am also trying to avoid sugar and treats until Christmas. It is not going so well. Each time I am at the grocery store, something calls my name. Not a good habit I have gotten into. I will be interested to see if the SAD light works for you. I would love to find an easy fix 😉
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Ugh, I know! I just keep thinking of mint M&Ms and Cadbury and, well, everything else. The last time I went down the holiday aisle at Walgreens (to get to another aisle) I actually whimpered a little. Sigh. Just 2 more weeks…
Hahaha! I torture myself regularly with the Christmas shelves in the shops. So many good treats!!! Stay strong!
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Hahaha, baby names crack me up. Instagram filters now too? You’re brave to give up sugar, I just don’t know if I could do it.
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It’s not going well right now! But I’ll do the best I can.
Congrats on your wife points! I wish I was as good about avoiding sugar as you. I am with you on the thrifty Christmas decorations. We bought our fake tree at a garage sale 6 years ago and it’s still going strong, though it sheds more than a real one.
On the baby names, I’d add that adding any consonant to the beginning of Aidan doesn’t make for the most robust names. Someone we know took it all the way to the end of the alphabet. Just not my thing.
Yikes, that sounds like a problem. For the kid, too.
I think the other unfortunate thing is when parents just don’t do their homework. I had a friend Raechel whose dad just thought Rachel didn’t look right when he was writing out the birth certificate. It’s like… maybe just write it down ahead of time? Or look it up?