Still no coche

I still don't have my car back! It was supposed to be done last week, but with the holidays cutting the work week short, they didn't have time to finish it before their four-day weekend. Finally they called on Tuesday and said I could pick her up at 4:00. I was in and out in less than five minutes...I should have known it could never be that easy! I never realized how attached I am to my car, but I drove off with a huge grin on my face. I was so happy to be driving her again! I stopped to get gas because I had dropped her off empty, and while at the station I decided to inspect the repair work. I reached back to the rear door that had been replaced, but couldn't get it unlocked no matter how hard I tried. Nor could I open the door from the inside. And of course, since it wouldn't unlock, I couldn't open it from the outside either. So I took it back to the shop and they were puzzled. They claimed it had worked fine when they tested it a couple hours previously. But they agreed it was not right now. They gave me the rental back (it was sitting where I had parked it mere minutes prior) and are now trying to fix the problem. I talked to the guy yesterday and he said they're trying to get another door panel and hopefully it will come in today. I really want my car back before the weekend. I do not want to ring in 2006 without her!

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The other day I saw Flightplan with Jodie Foster at the dollar theater. It is a great movie! It's billed as a thriller, but there's no gore or anything. It's more psychological with some action scenes. I definitely recommend it.

Then last night I re-watched National Treasure, with Nicholas Cage. That is a first-rate movie! It's like James Bond meets Indiana Jones meets Da Vinci Code! I'm an American history geek as it is, so this film is right up my alley. Plus, now that I've been to Philadelphia, the scenes shot there were more exciting. Add it to your Netflix queue if you haven't seen it yet...you won't be sorry!

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I learned a couple new board games recently. Bohnanza is from Germany. Basically you have a lot of bean cards and you have to plant and harvest them strategically so you can sell them for gold coins. It was hard to get the hang of at first, but when we did, it was fun! The other game is called Carcassonne...it's named after a region in France I think. In that game, there are a bunch of tiles with grassland, mountains, water, and cities, and you have to lay them out like dominoes and also claim the largest amounts of land, water, etc., to get points. I lost both games but wouldn't mind playing them again to get better.

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I had a funny dream last night. Yesterday I discovered that a fellow blogger linked to my blog. I was so honored! So last night, I dreamt that James Lileks, my current hero, was also a regular reader, and that he also linked to my blog in his Bleat. Right, as if! But I was thrilled in the dream, as you can imagine!

A merry time was had by all...

...except for those under age 1. Christmas was lovely. The whole family was together, and the house was full of life, love, and good cheer. But poor little Cassidy was very much under the weather. With lingering (recurring?) ear infections, a hacking cough, runny nose, and puffy red eyes, she was quite a pitiful sight. She cried almost nonstop. I swear she was saying "Ow." Her wails really sounded like it. Of course, being Christmas, the only option for medical care was the ER, which seemed rather extreme. When her fever spiked to 103.8, though, we seriously considered it. Thankfully the Tylenol worked its magic. Monday morning she actually smiled for a spell but it didn't last. I hope the doctor can make her feel better. She's usually such a happy little girl, and to see her suffering was heartbreaking.

Meanwhile in happier events, the kids had a fantastic time opening their presents.


Well, mostly.


One might say the children are spoiled


but that is a grandparent's prerogative!

In all seriousness, the abundance we are blessed with can be overwhelming at times. We are truly very fortunate and I am bursting with gratitude. Not just for the presents, but for the love, the affection, the support, the bonds that tie our family together. At the same time, I'm grateful even for the challenging aspects of life, because it is through them that we grow.

If you want to see more pictures from our Christmas, you can view my flickr album here. I recommend choosing "View as slideshow."

Another scarf...my favorite so far!

Finished another scarf tonight. I quite like it, if I do say so myself. It is very soft, and the color is lovely. Plus it is very long, the better for doubling up and looping for extra warmth. Definitely worth the extra time.


But I must learn to crochet, pronto. Carlee whipped out a scarf in 40 minutes last night as I watched with envy and disbelief.

Comet up close and personal

Comet is the best kitty in the world. He greets me at the door like a dog, only better--there's none of that jumping and slobbering. And he likes to be hugged. When he's sitting on my bed, and I put my arms around him, he starts purring. But my favorite is when he climbs up on my tummy and just lies there purring. What a lovebug!

It's a Wonderful Life for Modern Times

If you have five minutes to spare, visit this site. Clever and oh so true.

This will freak your freakin' freak (as Ellen would say)

I love a good optical illusion. This one is tops! I'd love you to leave a comment letting me know if it worked for you!

Cute overload

Be ready to say, "Awwww" over and over again.

(Thanks to wetsuit boy for posting this link first.)

More baby animals here.

Sturm und drang

I saw a very disturbing film last night--The Constant Gardener. It is billed as a political thriller told through the lens of a romance. The previews looked intriguing. While the story was very well crafted, the movie was shot creatively, and the performances were riveting, the overall impact was not pleasant. This movie hits you like a ton of bricks. If you have any compassion for fellow human beings at all, you can't help but be deeply disturbed by what this film shows. While it is based on a novel, I suspect what it depicts is not pure fiction. Basically it's about pharmaceutical companies taking advantage of poor Kenyans by using them as unwitting subjects in drug trials...specifically for an anti-TB drug that often has fatal side effects. It's the Tuskegee Experiment all over again. As if that weren't bad enough, the movie depicts shantytowns and villages where people live in such extreme poverty it is unbelievable. And then to top it all off, there are bandits that come around to steal from and kill these already beleaguered people. It really makes you take stock of your own life, and realize how easy we have it here. An embarrassment of riches. A nauseating abundance. I purchased dozens of Christmas gifts and will receive a many in return. Yet one in six people on this planet lives without running water! It makes you put things in perspective. Here I am, grumbling because they came out with the video iPod five months after I bought my iPod photo, and these people have to walk 40 km to get medical attention; they subsist on rice dropped by UN workers; and they live in fear that men on horses will sweep in, take what little they have, and/or murder them and their families. Atrocious.

I don't usually watch movies like that, because I prefer to be an ostrich with my head in the sand. At the same time, I feel guilty for choosing cheerful denial. Yet what can I do, realistically? Short of selling all my possessions (or better yet, giving them away) and joining the Peace Corps, I have no ideas. Of course the answer is to find some middle ground, between doing absolutely nothing and dedicating my life to the cause. That balance is frustratingly elusive.

On top of all that lovely stuff, I've been feeling restless. I used to get this way when I was a teacher, during summer vacations. Too long with nothing to do, and I get depressed, which means I don't want to do anything at all. So it becomes a vicious cycle. I'm depressed because I'm not doing anything, but I'm not doing anything because I'm depressed. I even went for a run today to see if that would help clear my head. All it did was demonstrate how badly out of shape I've gotten in the past few months. Blech.

Lastly, the secret ingredient to Melissa's stew of malcontent: ambivalence about starting a new relationship. Do I want to get involved with someone if it's not headed for marriage? How do you know if it's headed for marriage until you're already involved? Could I handle another breakup? Am I ready to let go of the past? Oy, it's enough to make a girl wanna go hide under the covers and not come out until spring. But then I go back to those poor people in Third World countries, who really have something to moan and groan about, and I feel ashamed for indulging in self-pity.

Aaaaaaah! I need to snap out of it. I am optimistic that tomorrow will be better.

Notice anything different about the address bar?

If you're using Firefox you should. For Explorer, it may or may not work. Try bookmarking (or re-bookmarking) the page and then refreshing, or reloading via your Favorites list. Spiffy, huh? Inordinately proud, I am. Frivolous use of time? Perhaps. But life is in the details.

The glories of 8 a.m. and rental cars

Up early again, to take my car to the body shop. She's finally getting fixed! No better way to start the day than with some online humor courtesy of my favorite columnist, James Lileks. (Sorry, Dave Barry--you take a sabbatical, you get replaced.) His 12 Catastrophes of Christmas are high-frickin-larious! Maybe someday I'll be able to write half as well as he. From today's Bleat:

It is stupid cold outside. Five when I got up, Five at noon, Five at sunset. I think it’s Two now. Yesterday I drove to Target...and there was no place to park except the outer realms of the lot; the wind was blowing me-by-north-me, and seemed intent on keeping me from the warm red womb of Mother Target. I pressed on. Once inside I...got a cart for shopping. They’d just brought in a herd from the pens outside, and the handles of the cart were too cold to touch. I used my coat sleeves. I looked around and saw everyone else in the area pushing carts with coat sleeves. One of those things you just accept, I guess; I suppose in Arizona the cart handles burn your flesh off. It’s all a trade-off.

Later. I was late to the body shop. There was a ton of ice on my car, and it was not joking this time.

So I couldn't use the squeegee backwards, like I'd done before. I had to come back upstairs and get a spatula. Pathetic. I seriously need an ice scraper. When I finally got to the body shop, the lady from Enterprise was waiting to pick me up. She was driving a Dodge Magnum, one of those fierce looking not-quite-a-station-wagon-not-quite-a-minivan-not-quite-an-SUV cars. Huge inside. Power everything. She said it was the car I would be getting. I thought to myself, "Geez, this is only $25.99 a day?!" Turns out she was mistaken, of course. I got a Kia Rio.


Tiny, tiny, tiny, but at least it's not a Geo Metro! At least it has a CD player. Besides, it will be easier to park and will get better mileage than the Magnum. Luckily my insurance pays for a rental while my car is being repaired, but I'm paying for the additional insurance. I could never bring myself to call Allstate and tell them that I'd managed to wreck the rental I was driving while my regular car was being repaired from the last wreck. I love irony, but not that much.