Philosophical Nonsense

Here's the game plan for Christmas On The Cheap(tm):

Each of the families (Dad and Bitz, Mom, Melanie et al., and Brett et al.) is going to get a little basket of household goodies, consisting of:

1. Set of 6 napkins, folded and displayed with...
2. Wire-wrapped and beaded napkin rings
3.  Set of 4 knitted cotton dishcloths
4.  Set of 3 knitted and felted woolen hot pads/trivets
5.  Packages of German roasted pecans and almonds
6.  Homemade dog biscuits for the families with dogs
7.  Catnip-filled fleece toys for the families with cats

The whole shebang should cost me less than $50.  For 4 families, that's pretty damned good. 

I also have a scarf knitted in seed stitch for Mom (her favorite stitch), a pair of really cute earrings for Lennie (the super awesome niece of amazingness), a cross-stitch of a cat that looks just like her cat Mittens for Lennie, and a pair of earrings for Melanie.

I was able to score Melanie's earrings for free through Swagbucks , the yarn for Mom's scarf was a gift, and I can use my employee discount for everything else except for the wool yarn I need for the hot pads. That I'll have to get from Michael's or Joann's, although Michael's will be easier for me as far as convenience goes. 

Our girl Melmel (who just got her first tattoo this week!) is getting a new phone, courtesy of a contract extension that we'll be signing.  I'm also going to go through my collection of romance novels and send some to her, as she has recently become a fan and by God I am glad she's getting over her Twilight obsession.

And now for the only Christmas splurge this year -- I have a Garmin GPS on layaway for Boe...shhhhh, don't tell him!

In my algebra class, I am lost already, and my confusion is only getting worse.  My acceptance into the nursing program is conditional upon completion of my current algebra class -- if I do not pass the class this semester, I lose my seat in the January 2012 startup and I will have to wait until the August 2012 startup to apply again.

I am already using the college's tutoring service, which is free, but I am only allowed 1 hour of tutoring per subject...I need more than that.  So I have to hire a tutor.  Good thing Boe has a job now.

So to recap:

Random Gamer Guy is gone...but not before stealing a pack of Magic: The Gathering cards Boe had picked up that Friday.  I don't care too much, except Boe is unhappy, and that makes me unhappy.

Boe's temp job is finished up, and now we wait to hear from the agency for another assignment.

I might have tied one on last Friday to celebrate Random Gamer Guy's departure; the hangover served to remind me that I am not as young as I once was, and that my liver hates me.

Boe and I held a little backyard barbecue on Saturday.  Everything was delicious and (as is par the course for me) since I bought too much food, we'll be eating burgers and hot dogs the rest of the week.  But they are delicious, and that's the important part.

My college's financial aid office is screwing around with me, and I don't like it.  My account has been flagged for verification Every. Single. Year. and this year was no exception.  I turned in copies of my tax return on July 18, and my account is STILL "pending, under review."  This means that they have not released my financial aid to the bookstore so I can get my books.  Because school starts in a week, I'm sure all of the used copies of the textbooks have been sold, so I'll either need to rent textbooks (which is what I'm considering) or buy brand new ones.  I am tempted to go to the financial aid office tomorrow and break some heads.

And the only paperwork I'm waiting on to complete my nursing program applications (yes, two:  one for the LPN program and one for the RN program) is my highschool transcripts.  I called my alma mater a week ago Tuesday to request 2 sets of official transcripts.  The said they'd be in the mail that same day.  I should have recieved them by Wednesday.  They are still not here.  I am tempted to go down there and break some heads too.

I am so excited at the prospect of being able to work on sewing projects!

So, in the 48 hours that RGG has been aware that he will be moving out no later than 8 PM on August 12, he was at the computer playing some sort of fantasy wizarding game all day yesterday (we're talking well over 15 hours, here).  How do I know?  I was here all day yesterday.  Today, he has spent what appears to be all day at the computer, playing yet another fantasy wizarding game.  He was playing it when I left for work this morning, he is still playing it as we speak.  According to Boe, who asked RGG, RGG has not left the house in those 48 hours.

It appears, so far as I can tell, that RGG has not even begun to look for a place to stay.

Boe and I were chatting this evening, and things really became crystal clear to me when Boe told me that RGG had tried to come to a gentleman's agreement with Boe to allow him to stay past the 12th if RGG was unable to find a new place by that time.  Apparently, one of the things that RGG said to him was that I couldn't throw [RGG] out because it wasn't my house. 

Let me write that out again, just in case you missed it:  

According to RGG, this roof over my head is not my house.

 It's Boe's house, and Boe wasn't the one to write out the notice to vacate, so really, RGG just needed to pay the past due rent and everything would be okay again.  Boe, bless him, just took one long look at RGG and told him that I (Krista)  have made the mortgage payments on the house for the past year with money I earned, so I can damned well do as I please in a house I am paying the mortgage on.  Boe finally stood up for me and told RGG that he (Boe) completely supports any and all decisions I make, especially when my happiness is at stake.  So, yes, RGG would indeed have to leave no later than 8 PM on the 12th, and furthermore, Boe fully agrees with the decision to evict RGG.

Things really clicked for me when Boe was telling me this little anecdote, and I realized that every request I have made of RGG he has double-checked with Boe.  And that also explains why RGG doesn't cook for himself, or clean up after himself, or anything like that...he's expecting me to do it because that's women's work.

That pathetic motherfucker's a misogynist of the first water. 

I daresay that he will be stunned when Boe drops him off at the Rescue Mission Shelter the evening of the 12th and his stuff is on the front porch.  Meanwhile, I will be changing the locks.  I'm a smart girl and I know how to use power tools.  Fear me, RGG. Fear me.

Here's what I had planned to get done today:

Clean the bathroom (Yes, with RGG in the house I use medical-grade latex gloves, no worries, darlings!)

Get 5 loads of laundry done

Clean the bedroom

Here's what I actually accomplished:

Threw 1 load of clothes into the washer (in my defense, the cats had soaked some articles of clothing in that particular load, so I had to run it twice with a bunch of white vinegar to get the smell completely out)

Whined about not being able to go to Pennsic as usual this year

Figured out Pennsic tentage for NEXT year (it has crossed my mind that I am either the poster child for the adage "Hope springs eternal" or for the one that goes "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result."  Not sure which one applies, I'll let y'all come to your own conclusions.)

Watched The Steve Wilkos Show -- OK, I admit it, I like the trainwreckiness of trash talk shows.

Aaaaaaaaand that's about it.

I drove back from my mom's house today.  Driving for 3 hours in a car with no air conditioning during a day in which the heat index was 105 Fahrenheit is NOT recommended.  Boe and I camped out in our bedroom -- the only room in the house with air conditioning -- for a couple of hours prior to having supper.  I had thought it was weird that I just kept sweating and sweating and sweating, but I brushed it off thinking I just hadn't cooled down enough from the drive.

After supper, I took a cold shower and went back upstairs to our bedroom.

Imagine my surprise when I opened the door and no rush of cool air greeted me.  Yep, our air conditioner just took a crap on us and died.  Righ this moment, the temperature is 85 degrees, with a heat index of 95 degrees.  Tomorrow is supposed to be 101 degrees, with a heat index of 110 degrees.  This is going to be miserable until I get off of work and use what little extra money we have to buy a new air conditioner.

I laid a trash bag on the living room  floor in front of a box fan, then placed a wet towel on top of the trash bag and sprinkled the whole thing with catnip.  Frank, Odin, and Princess are all laying on the wet towel i order to keep cool...smart babies.  :-)

Boe and I went swimming yesterday, which was sorely needed as our area hit 93 degrees!  Today I have made some bread dough -- currently rising in the kitchen -- have run a couple loads of laundry, and now we are both at the library using the wifi...since Boe likes to read manga and it ate up most of our bandwidth this month.

Boe is severely depressed about the job situation.  Big shock there, right?  So I'm required to be the family hardass trying to get things done around here. 

Random Gamer Guy somehow managed to break our toilet seat.  >:-(  I want Boe to get a job quickly so I can kick this guy out.

First of all, we needed a new mower. So while we were at the store, we also picked up:

A cat statue to put on Fagan's grave (it's been almost a year since he passed, after all, I think it's about time!)

An invisible dog fence for Miss Maggie...I let her out yesterday to potty, and 30 seconds later I get a phone call from our neighbors across the street. Maggie had decided to run out into traffic in order to visit them. *sigh*

Roundup herbicide -- we're killing off the lawn and starting over

Grass seed

Weed and feed

Grub killer

2 large planters

A small planter

A hanging planter

10 begonias

16 pansies

8 petunias

and

2 fuschias

I have spent the afternoon planting to my heart's content. Boe has been spraying herbicide on everything in our yard (I did make sure to cover the lilac bush and the sole remaining rose bush before he started in on the herbicide), and we've been burning handfuls of leaves mixed in with a little bit of firewood. That way we don't get nailed for burning leaves in city limits. A handful at a time is enough to tell anyone who asks that we're using it as tinder. Not nearly as smoky, either.

Thursday was my last free day until at least Tuesday the 29th. I got precisely nothing done. Friday, on the other hand, was dedicated to helping cubsfan57 pack her and her husband Brian-sans-LJ's house for their move on Tuesday. Friday night we all went out to Mad Anthony's brewpub, where I discovered that there is, in fact, a beer out there that I will happily drink...their Raspberry Wheat Ale. Quite tasty! They spent the night with us Friday night.

Saturday, I got up rather early to head out on the road to Mom's house in Columbus, OH. The drive was lovely, and spending time with Mom is always nice. I did a metric buttload of cooking and made sure Mom wound up at least half of the stuff I cooked. Mom is not precisely a gourmand, to put it delicately. She will usually make herself a casserole and then eat from that for a solid week. Same with coffee...she'll make herself a single 12-cup pot on Monday, then drink from that every morning for a week. Yeah. So I wanted to make sure she had quite a few meals to provide some variety, because otherwise she will not do it for herself.

I spent a lot of time knitting and the rest of the time I spent making gifts for the Mom's family Christmas party...Mom's family Christmas party usually includes bingo, and I've been making beaded necklaces and bracelets as prizes. I'll also get some knitted washcloths and that sort of thing made for it too. I might not have much cash, but I'm decent with my hands, so my contribution will have more time spent than money.

The drive back this afternoon was pretty good. I'm glad to be home. Gotta go, Boe's mauling me...

I made a post inadoption , and I wanted to throw it out to my f-list as well.  Let me know what you think, I am getting so very very turned around on quite a few issues (as I am sure you all probably already knew!), and I could really use advice on, well, everything.

When Boe and I have discussed adoption, it has been with the assumption that we'll probably be adopting from the foster care system, since the financial costs of that method seem to be lower than for private adoption, and it gives us the chance to adopt a sibling group (we're primarily interested in adopting a sibling group since they are traditionally difficult to place.)  However, my hormones have really done a number on me and given me a raging case of baby rabies. As in, OMG BABIESRITENAO! sort of baby rabies.  So in my idiocy, I've been scoping out private adoption facilitators, which makes the whole "wanting a baby immediately if not sooner" feeling stronger. 

In addition, Boe -- who has always wanted to have children with me -- is of the opinion that we should go ahead and start the classes and whatnot now and as far as finances go, we'll just work it out the same way we would if I wasn't infertile and we had an unexpected pregnancy.  On the other hand, I can't help but fret that the course of action that Boe is suggesting would be irresponsible...but I'll be 35 before I graduate, and Boe will be 47.  I mean, yeah, Larry King can father a baby at the age of 927265, but that doesn't mean that we can or should.

So what on earth do I do in this situation?  If it was a question of me not being infertile and we had an unexpected pregnancy, we'd just muddle through as best we could while trying to juggle sketchy finances and a newborn.  But in this case, where having children requires not only money, but time, effort, and one hell of a lot of red tape, the right path to take is not nearly as clear-cut.  Wait until I'm out of school, even though we'll be (depressingly) a lot older than the ideal? See if we can adopt even though we're not *quite* where we need to be financially yet?  Foster care adoption, private, or "lady, you are clearly way too nuts to have kids"?

I mean, 35 is -- in my opinion -- really pushing the boundaries of age-appropriateness of first-time parenthood.  And that doesn't mean that I'd become a mom at 35; the classes and stuff can take up to a year, then there's the wait to get a home study done, and then there's waiting to be matched, and and and and and.  Realistically, it can take 2-3 years for placement through the foster care system. 

Hell, if we knew that I could carry a pregnancy, Boe and I would have gone the "family friend and a turkey baster" route.  But I can't carry a pregnancy, and we can't afford fertility treatments at $10,000 per round of IVF, embryo adoption in this case requires a surrogate, and we certainly can't afford a surrogate -- which would require us to go through a lot of the same hoops as an adoption would to boot.


My life is not turning out to be anything like what I had hoped...hrmph.