Man, I'm tired.

Okay, Thanksgiving time at my job is busy and chaotic. But, I love the job because the people are so nice- and they are funny. You can't beat "nice AND funny" to me that is the tops, because the opposite is the kiss of death, who wants to hang out with, work with, be in an elevator with for 6 freakin' seconds with someone who is mean AND boring.

I suppose it would be okay to be nice and boring, but less desirable to be mean and funny. Usually people who are mean and funny are "funny" at the expense of others in not a gentle way, but a hurtful cruel way. Those are a**hats I actively seek to avoid.

I was thinking of my little matrix on how I judge people: the usuals- do they smile? do they seem geniune, etc. My next marker is humor, if they can laugh at something funny or say something funny. The next step is seeing how the treat a waiter, waitress, ticket taker at the movies. Seriously, if someone can't be nice to someone who works with the general public, I really question them. If I found out they also littered and threw lit cigarette butts out of their car while driving, then I really wouldn't like them. If they were cruel to animals and didn't like children I would actively hate them, and avoid them like the plague and warn others about them.

Thats one of my main pet peeves. Man! How I HATE people who throw their lit cigarettes out their car window while driving. I can't stand cigarette smoke, but I've seriously considered having a few burning cigarettes in my car ashtray and when one of these flaming smacktards threw their burning cigarette butts out the window, I would drive up next to them, signal them to roll down their window and I would throw one of the burning cigarette butts into their car! Hopefully landing in their lap.

People who are mean to animals are scary. I think there is something essentially WRONG with someone who hurts animals. wrong, wrong, wrong. I would be scared of such a person. I would keep Allie (and of course kittycito) far, far away from them.

The reality is, I work with, live with people who are funny, but in a nice way, who are nice to people who have to work with the public, either don't smoke or they are respectful enough not flick their lit butts around (teehee) And who would not in a million years consider being mean to a pet, but in fact love animals. I'm really, really lucky.

And punchy, and tired because I'm writing about plotting revenge against people who throw lit cigarette butts outta their cars...okay, I'm going to veg out now.

Attack o' the crud

So, last Saturday, I was unusually tired. I thought because Friday was unusually busy, but by Saturday afternoon/evening it was a struggle to keep my eyes open. I tried to watch the Holy Grail with Allie, but fell asleep at the Knights who say "Nee!" part--the last thing I remember is the knights demand for shrubbery.

By Sunday morning, I was sick, real draggin' your wagon sick. I slept all day...Monday, still sick but somewhat mobile and pledging not to be sick! I will not be sick! Pure stubborness dragged me to work on Tuesday. But, Wednesday my body said- "Hey, screw you, you're sick!" So, admitting defeat and unable to go an hour with out hacking cough and fever, I relented. Wednesday and Thursday I was sick - drank tea, ate chicken noodle soup, watched bad TV.

Friday I was a wee bit better, but still not great. Went back to work. Saturday slightly better still. Today, a mild cough but finally at last better.

Here are some things I learned from my two days of illness:

-My cat is lonely. He slept on me and demanded play much of the day- figuring this was a rare occasion to have one of the humans home.

-"St. Elmo's Fire" a very '80s film was not as good as I remember it. When I saw it as a teenager in the 80s I thought they characters were cool. Now, I think, what a bunch of selfish a**holes.

- I think I would like to be on a make-over show. I don't care how pathetic I have to look or how bad the make-over professionals slag my current wardrobe. I want a stylist to do my hair and make up and get thousands of dollars of new clothes. I apparently have no shame.

-I have really ugly pajamas. I don't really have "formal" pajamas- I have flannel bottoms, flannel boxers and ancient t-shirts with holes and stains. A bit of advice- don't examine yourself in the mirror when you are sick. Its just bad. I really horrified myself. You know how when you're all sweaty and your hair gets snarly and mashed up? Or how your skin is all yellow and jaundiced, except your red nose and your dark circles under your eyes? Yea, well that was me. Perhaps thats why I wanted to go on a make-over show....

- The Democrats debate. No Mike Gravel, no comic relief. There was much made of the so-called "attacks" on Hillary. John Edwards seemed to be the most direct. Obama did a bit, but bungled on the immigrant drivers license deal- which I thought was a pretty rookie mistake, because the question was sure to be asked. Frankly, it was boring. Maybe because there has been so many, and everyone reherses their "talking points" - its irritating. I thought Joe Biden did well because he said about the debate: "Nobody cares about this..." and went on to list people's real life concerns. I'm still cool to Hillary. There is a difference between being driven and being passionate. She's driven. She's so frickin' calculating...at the end of the debate someone asked her if she preferred diamonds or pearls. She said "both"- Yes, heaven forfend she should offend either diamond or pearl partisans or lobbies! Goodness me, couldn't actual answer a total softball with an authentic response...being authentic makes it so hard to maneuver to a new position!

-Allie and I are total devotees to "Project Runway" - the new season started on Wednesday. The first winner was a hunky guy from Israel, who designed this really beautiful goddess style gown. Its hard to pick favorites at the beginning because there are so many designers. But, I have a least favorite- she's this totally annoying earthy, spacey chick that rubbed her fabric in the grass to "pick up the aura of the earth" or some such ridiculous thing. She's mega-irritating.

That's all from the week of illness. Lessons learned.

Halloween and weekend happenings...

Halloween in the new neighborhood was lots of fun, there were plenty of adorable trick or treaters, and Allie had fun trick or treating around here.

Can you guess who she is?

She's Barbie! But she did get people guessing that she was Dolly Parton, Hannah Montana, and most outrageous to Allie, someone said Britney Spears! She wasn't too happy about that, as she said, "I'd NEVER be her!"

Her friend went as a gangster, and since Allie was Barbie, her friend decided to be "gangster Ken" so it was a lot of fun.

It was interesting, most of the little boys were ninjas or Spider Man, and most of the girls were fairies or Disney princesses.

We decided to get a little more creative with pumpkins this year. I decided to do "barfing pumpkin" Allie did a girly pumpkin with a bow in her hair. J spray painted his pumpkin white to create "ghost pumpkin."

Those of you who have been reading my blog for awhile may remember my encounter last year with the "Jackass o' Lantern" (Here's the link to the post http://girlnamedmoe.blogspot.com/2006_10_01_archive.html ) Fortunately, I have not encountered the Jackass O' Lantern again, but did hear that his wife left him. Quelle Suprise. So, he had to spend this Halloween without Mrs. Jack O'Lantern, who apparently came to her senses.

This weekend, I actually went out! To a concert with a friend at an actual club! Where people have grown-up alcohol drinks and they dress up! It was really weird, simply because I had not been in that kind of environment since before I had Allie. J & I tend to be pretty low key in our infrequent outings, usually dinner and a movie, or dinner with a few friends. Once you have kids, your life kind of becomes more about their social lives and doing family friendly activities.

So, anyway, I went with a very lovely friend who shares my passion for.....Neil Diamond. Yes, that's right, I don't really make a secret of it, but I kind of love Neil even though he can be cheezy. His music is the music we listened to growing up. For a time, my Dad had a black van, which was called the "pimp mobile" because it had red velvety plush interiors, truly the inside of the van looked like a turn of the century bordello. Anyway, the pimp van had an 8 track, and very often we would pop-in Neil's "Hot August Nights" 8 track and rock out. I'd have to say "Sweet Caroline" is one of my all time favorite songs.

I guess I'm not the only one who has a nostalgic love for the vaguely cheezy works of Neil. I say cheezy with respect because I really do love Neil. The group I saw Saturday night at the Crystal Ballroom in Portland is a Neil Diamond tribute band, called Super Diamond http://www.superdiamond.com/ They sing all of Neil's hits, and are true to the circa 1970s Neil with flashy, shiny clothes, open shirts, gold medallions and sideburns galore.

I have to say, it was REALLY FUN. I don't remember when I danced so much or sang so loud! They did cheese-out a few songs, which are already so campy anyway, it seemed beside the point, but they were fun.

In the immortal words of Neil, "Good times never seemed so good."