it sure aint!

I gave up painting and took up embroidery. But I still can't make myself follow a pattern so I've only managed to learn one stitch. Oh well, I've made Ms Pacman, cupcakes, gnomes, and caricatures of my entire family with only one stitch.

A fella from work gave me some jalapenos and I decided to gut them, stuff 'em, bread 'em, and fry 'em up for dinner tonight. Being my usually clumsy accident-prone self I managed to splash grease all of my fingers and THEN get jalapeno juice on the same fingers. I read online that milk should neutralize the burning so there I am, standing in the kitchen with my red burning hand in a bowl of milk when Ani walks in the room. She stares at me for a few minutes, scratches her head (I can practically see her gears twitching into gear at moments like that). She goes to the cupboard gets down a bowl, poured herself some milk, and proceeded to sip out of it, all the while giving me encouraging smiles. She thinks I'm a nutcase.

In other news, we now have four dogs at our house. While we are technically still looking for homes for Three and Four (yes, that's the dogs' names), they have made themselves quit comfortable right here with us. Four is a mini-True in the making and lives and dies by Billiam's word. Three looks and acts exactly like Santa's Little Helper (if you aren't a Simpsons fan...well, you suck). Four dogs mean that I never have to use a blanket at night time, I just put my feet under a mutt. Four dogs mean at least a weekly dose of preventative flea meds. Four dogs mean that they eat better than we do most days. Four dogs mean our entire house smells like mud, hair, and drool. Four dogs mean lots of love. Awwwww.

I've been working. Alot. I haven't finished a book in months, I haven't written in even longer, my insomnia is now a joke because now I'm exhausted AND tired without sleep every day (yes, there is a difference between exhausted and tired). I've also managed to alienate people, earned some more frown lines around my mouth and eyes, and have gained eight pounds. EEK! Let me stop you before you think I'm one of those girls who is all "omgd I totally weight 100 lbs now. Puke puke puke". Nah, I'm cool with it as long as I get to keep buying a birthday cake every weekend....just to eat.

Ani started fourth grade! She's in the gifted program this year. That's m'girl. She's also about the funniest damned thing since Laurel and Hardy.

My dad has been staying with us for about a month now and the experiment is going quite well. He went home last week to pack up the remainder of his belongings and he left me a card on the table the morning he departed. It read: "You're a better daughter than I was a father, thank you. You have a huge heart and I hope that you get everything you deserve." Seriously, how freakin' heartwarming was that? He and Ani have bonded in a most interesting way. He plays Uno with her (until he beats her soundly and then she pouts and quits), he willingly dons top hats and holds fluffy stuffed animals while she pilots bed "ships" to sea, he even plays Polly Pockets with her (ummm well he did until she kicked him out because his polly pocket kept stealing cars and going on beer runs haha). She keeps him in line with a stern, "Grandpa, now you behave" and he's there waiting for her on the porch with True-be every day after school. What a pair.

In short - while there's not as much drinking and relaxing going on as there once was, life ain't half bad. It ain't half bad at all.