I don't talk too much about the kids, here, anymore, on account of their being whole adults---not just, like, "okay, legally they're adults," but more like "they have retirement accounts with a corporate match" kind of adults. It's weird. You have to remember that not only do I routinely picture the ones I baked myself as wee, puppylike children, but Chickadee and Sunny actually went to elementary school together. I met Sunny when she was EIGHT. All three of them should be small and slightly rumpled and gap-toothed. Instead, all three of them lead their own lives largely without my input...
My name is Grumplestiltskin Articles
The good, the bad, and the fascists
It has been so long since I posted here, I forgot the password. It has been so long since I posted here, I had to read the previous post to 1) figure out what I'd last shared and 2) brace myself for how far back I'd need to go to catch you up. It's been so long since I posted here, I had a moment (okay; maybe several) of nostalgia for the days when I wrote all the time and my life didn't feel like a series of complicated situations I've neither asked for nor want, but nonetheless probably shouldn't air publicly because... reasons. (Let's ignore the fact that that plenty of people think the...
It could be worse. Probably.
Hello! I am pleased to report that I am still here, and still cranky. Maybe I am not pleased to be cranky, I guess, but there you have it. A couple of nights ago, Otto and I had iteration number seven thousand or so of the conversation where he says he misses my writing, and I say that nothing interesting and/or suitable to tell the world about has happened because my life is actually super boring, and he says that's not true, and I tell him he's not the boss of me. (Being married to me is a treat, I am sure.) I thought about it and realized I actually have plenty of things to complain...
I hate eight
In the grand scheme of Big Life Problems, everything is fine. Let's start with that. Because I am about to launch into a carnival of bitchery and I KNOW someone will want to bright-side it somehow or say it could definitely be worse, and you know how I feel about Hardship Olympics. So. Is my family okay; is anything on fire? Yes, and no. But am I going to complain anyway? You betcha. Not in the mood for such? That's fine. Catch you next time when I'm back to being funny, I guess. Where to begin, where to begin? I think let's start with the timeline/history of my involvement with this local...
This is definitely not a casino
Long ago and far away, there was some debate as to whether our house contains a casino, and adorable little-kid word mix-ups aside, I think we determined that no, it does not. It never occurred to me that the day would come when I would also have to determine whether or not this here blog contains a casino, but apparently while I wasn't paying attention, that became a thing. Confused? I was, too. Allow me to explain. Sort of. You may have noticed (har har) that I don't write as much as I used to. My time and energy has turned more to other things, like sewing masks and dealing with people on...
Win some, lose some (paint some, replace some)
Oh my goodness, it's been a week. Or two weeks. I'm not even sure. It all starts to blend together, you know? When last we spoke, I was enthusiastically embarking upon Project Rainbow, or---more specifically---the "simple" task of repainting the rockers from our front porch with some actual rainbows, and although it was slow going I knew I would triumph and be pleased. Well. At this point in time I definitely AM pleased, and one out of two isn't bad, right? I mean, look, they came out pretty okay: (That's not the front porch, by the way. That's the back porch, where I spent one gazillion...
Here is the thing about now
February sucks. Everyone agrees that February sucks, yes? I am well aware of the February suckage, and so because I am a fairly self-aware and productive human who has been in therapy for most of her life (wheeeeee!), each and every February when things get hard I keep reminding myself: "February always sucks. This is normal. Just keep going, because this is a short month." That's good, right? I mean, I always feel really proud of myself while I'm doing that. No matter how long a person with depression deals with depression, one common feature of said depression (how many times can I say...
*bong*
It's been a long summer. It's kind of continuing to be a long summer, for a billion reasons, and some of those reasons are boring and mundane, and others are heartbreaking and too hard to talk about, and still others just leave me feeling like a broken record. (Someday when we look back, will we refer to 2018 as The Year America Became A Flaming Dumpster Fire, or does that designation rightfully belong to 2016, with 2018 being more like The Year It Became Clear That Actually Women's Rights CAN Go Backwards or The Year We All Really Realized We Were Not Overreacting, Everything Truly Is...
Tech Week
Or, Snot: The Opera. Or, Tell Me Again Why I Thought I Liked Doing Theater? Or, My Children Moved Out And All I Got Was The Plague (Twice). Or, Someone Hates Me And It's Hurting My Delicate Feelings. Good morning! Gosh, this is early for me to be blogging. (As in, early in the day. I realize I disappeared for a month, again.) But WHY NOT, I say, because I am 1) awake and 2) far too cranky to do anything else. I've already gotten out of bed, made myself some tea, irrigated my nasal passages with saline (sexxxxxy), taken some of the good, meth-making kind of decongestant where you have to go...