cool, uncool, and a question

UNCOOL: Tiger is at work with me today because he was suspended.

COOL: I'm going through Project Gutenburg finding something for him to read when he is done with his assignments.

QUESTION: What book would you take from the Gutenberg site first to bind and put in your own collection?

dreams

i know it's going to sound self-absorbed, but these days, i have my own dream: that people will do what they are supposed to, that they will communicate what is expected of others, and that they will be honest.

imagine.

wages of illness

While the House was passing the minimum wage increase, i was being more ill than i have been in years. The stomach bug that started with Tiger last week and Dragon this weekend finally bit me, despite my best efforts to avoid it. David was a dear and reminded me that i was loved even when i felt (and often smelled) horrible.

Today I was making mental notes about what to discuss with Tiger since minimum wage is one of his topics that he really got involved in from our homeschooling days. It's funny, because i ought to be at home instead of at work, feeling my stomach cramp and my bowels rumble. But i'm a contractor and i don't have any benefits. I look forward to the day Virginia follows California, Massachusetts and Vermont's examples, which will free us all from the shackles of employment-for-healthcare that currently reigns not only in this commonwealth but in this country.

let it snow

More than just flurries, indeed. Dragon and i had a fine time feeding horses and tromping through the falling snow while Tiger and David did the tennis thing. Afterward, we all cooked and hung out and checked on homework and the like. Martina-from-work loaned us season one of the live-action Wonder Woman series (yes, the one starring Lynda Carter and Lyle Waggoner), which we watched while we ate dinner, a rare treat in our world.

This morning the fireplace was glowing, the covers inviting and it was more than only a little difficult to get in gear. Mountain roads had snow and gravel, and school was cancelled. Charlotte-the-jeep played in four wheel drive, the boys gleefully hopped into daycare to play with their friends and David and I sallied forth to be responsible members of the capitalist economy.

Can we go back to the bit with snow and fireplaces and flannel?

Yay! Snow Snow snow.

Actually, the snow hasn't really started to happen yet, but all of a sudden like, it has gotten crisp and cold. Tiger is having his tennis lesson tonight, and i'm hoping that there will be an Accumulation of snow on the mountain overnight. Horses, barns, snow, hot chocolate, fireplaces, flannel . . . . i'm all set.

welcome to 2007

The new year came in a glorious weekend. Rain, wonderful food, shooting, old movies [Young Frankenstein and Underworld], laughter, love, philosophical ramblings, you name it: i was happy and content beyond measuring.

Which is good, since today i realised that i can't afford my life. most people give up things at the new year, but i've already done a lot of leaning in my life: i've given up the house, smoking, drinking, my dog; i've canceled subscriptions and cut back on nearly everything. Now i'm at the point where i'm thinking of giving up everything else, which means the cell phone goes first (it's super expensive compared to everything else), especially since i can't use it much when i'm not at work without incurring huge roaming expenses, and text messaging is out altogether. Unfortunately, there isn't a library in the town i now live in, so i'm without any net connection as well. ah well, such is the price of being independent.

there are a lot of upsides to this and i'm liking them: carpooling, thinking more creatively about food and utilities, the whole ball of wax that is my life. somewhere i have a copy of the book The Number and i'm thinking it's about time to get it out. At this rate, my number might be very small, or i might be ignoring it to the point of getting it way out of hand; i have no sense of things anymore. I do know that more than any other goal i would like to have an emergency fund. I'm not very good at these sorts of things, so i've set up a savings account at the credit union where i can just put money in and forget about it. it doesn't have to be a lot, it just has to be forgotten, you know?

it's a year to find out how little i need and what i can do with the rest of it. did i mention how many books i have yet to read that i already own?