8.27.13

The Swamp formerly known as The Whine Cellar

 "It's easier to do pageants if you're not paying rent."  Toddlers & Tiaras mother who lives with her baby's grandparents.

Yes. That's why I live with my parents... so that I can enter the highly competitive world of Plus Size Pageantry. Can you imagine how many sequins I would need on my beauty dress? (I'm not really THAT big. Plus size for sure but not buying clothes from Omar the Tentmaker).

Wanna know how you can guess that I've run out of blog content? I start my entry for the night with a Toddlers & Tiaras quote.

Wet carpet removed... 

I started my day wearing the protective mask and trying to de-mold my furniture in the basement. It didn't take me long to realize that on upholstery I can't tell where there is mold and where there isn't which took me back to the conversation with the water removal specialist guy on Friday who said they never recommend keeping furniture once it's had mold on it because you can never be sure that you've completely removed it all.

I really had a come to Jesus about it this morning... you know, one of those epiphanies that seem to be other-worldly because the voice in your head is so clear. No, I don't hear voices. I do, however, have thoughts that are completely out of line with my thought pattern and the one I had this morning brought that guy's warning to mind and also the caution from my pulmonologist three (four?) years ago when we first discovered the scar tissue in my lungs... that I would always be more susceptible to having colds turn into pneumonia. I love my furniture but am I willing to risk respiratory stuff? I'm really not. Do I believe we have the tools necessary to clean it? I really don't. As I prayed about it this morning I had a real sense of peace about letting go. And as well all know... it's not like I'm unaccustomed to letting go.

Little Kitty sleeping in the corner of the bedroom

So that was how the day started. There were a few other completely unnecessary aggravations that I won't go into here yet but trust me when I say that narcissists are my mortal enemies and if I had any super power it would be the ability to wipe out narcissism. That will make a lot more sense in a few more weeks when I can explain it better but for now, please just join me in my campaign against narcissism. And pray that God will keep His arm around my shoulders and His hand firmly over my mouth.

Since taking a sabbatical from all my online gaming I've gotten a lot further in my genealogy research. I spent today combining names in my database that are the same person but entered differently in different parts of the tree. (As my Uncle Bill says... once you get back to a certain point in time there aren't that many people on the planet.) There are a lot of common ancestors in my tree. It's ridiculous how some people might enter King Edward III and others may enter Edward III Plantagent and others may enter "Edward the really cool dude who was king". And you may have some photos and records and documentation under one version but not the others so you really want to use the same version of the name for the same people. It's a slow process because you have to verify birthday and date of death and parents and other things that confirm it's the same person and those don't always jive. I mean. It's not brain surgery but it does take concentration and when I consolidate a couple of dozen people I feel like I've accomplished something. So that was good and took my mind off the evil tyranny of narcissism.

Little Kitty being all bitter and jealous because I'm holding Oscar

Austin got a book today on Kindle that he had pre-ordered six months ago - it's from the I Am Four series which I know absolutely nothing about because even though Austin loves the series, he doesn't explain things in a very empathetic way (thank you, autism) and I get lost in his narratives sometimes. To be honest, I get lost in a lot of people's narratives if it's something that doesn't particularly interest me. Anyways... the point is that he got this new book today and he's already on chapter 27. He can really absorb information if it's something that holds his interest which tells me that he would do GREAT in college if he could determine a field of study that he's passionate about. The problem is that he would have to do a lot of stuff that he's not passionate about to be able to get to the study of things that he IS passionate about and if it's not something he wants to do he just won't do it. Exhibit A: twelve years of schooling. But I still get really excited for him when he is excited about things and he is very excited about this book.

Oscar being all territorial on my lap

Personally... I'm reading some novel that I downloaded for free on my Nook from bookbub.com and because I read it as I'm going to sleep at night I couldn't tell you what it's about but every night when I start reading it makes sense.

On top of reading 27 chapters of his book, Austin made a gajillion trips up and down two flights of stairs to rescue my little library that was on a bookshelf that was growing mold in the basement. It doesn't appear that any of the books have mold on them... I tried to check that out this morning... but until I know it's a water-tight, low humidity environment, I'd like to keep my literary treasures high and dry on the top floor. Right now they're in piles all over the floor which drives me bonkers. We need to get my super talented brothers (oldest and youngest) to put in a built in bookshelf on the low wall under the eaves in the top floor bedroom. Not that this will always and forever be my room (I much prefer the Whine Cellar when it's dry) but my parents also have a huge library of their own and it would be nice to have a place for the books to go.

Little Kitty guarding my books

Austin also worked on cutting the grass and a couple of other tasks that his Mawmaw had asked of him. It's been a rough week for Austin since he has been booted out of his normal space and hasn't had any of his buddies hanging out and eating all of my groceries. Logan's been sick and Pat's been busy working. Austin's handled it well and only had a few moments where I had to talk him back down to a zen place. He can go so far over the edge at times and things feel so out of control but he is so smart and ... autism or not... empathetic at times. He's talking to a girl that he met online who is supposedly bi-sexual. Austin asked if it was ethical for her - as a bi-sexual person - to have a girlfriend AND be talking to a guy. I said... I tend to feel like bi-sexual is more a description of your lack of preference for one sex over another but that in my opinion you should pick one person and stay with that person. Monogamy is the key. And then I had to explain monogamy. These sort of things... clarification of social norms... he still needs. And I'm glad that he's open enough to ask questions. I'm glad to still be raising him even though at times it is very frustrating. I catch a lot of slack for how he is and who he is and his characteristics and quirks. I guess, ultimately, I'll take that blame, even though we know it's more about how he's wired than anything I did wrong or right in raising him. I did the best I could with what I had and what I knew and I'm just glad to still have the opportunity to have an influence on his life. We're both still figuring life out.

So that was my Tuesday. Hope yours was lovely. Love and hugs!
And P.S. to Jess - you are welcome here any time! You just bring your fit and lovely self on down! Liz too!