Greetings from Atlantas

Hey, B.

The next time I decide to go out during a major flood, remind me not to. I didn't have too much trouble getting home, although the highway had already closed and many of the backroads were already congested by the time I headed that way. The district dismissed the high school and the middle schools an hour early, but they were still running bus service at that time, so M got home ok. My friend JT (the ex-crackhead) called to see if I wanted him to pick up JJ, as he was going to pick up B. I called down to the school and they had just decided to evacuate the elementary schools too, so that worked out well. In the end, bus transportation was so limited that I'm glad I didn't have him wait. Everyone was home and dry by 3:00, which wasn't too bad, considering.

It's still raining, though. They don't expect the (22 flooding) rivers to crest until sometime early in the morning, so there will likely be no school tomorrow. The big one near here has a record crest of 31 feet; it's expected to get as high as 36 tonight. They've completely evacuated two cities already and they're talking about closing down part of the Interstate south of here. What a mess!! I haven't seen J since 4:00 this morning. I talked to him briefly this afternoon and he said that it's all much worse than they had expected; even one of their stations has flooded out. I feel fortunate to be up here on high ground; I can't imagine the nightmare of trying to get out of my house with my kids and treasured things, in the dark, in the pouring down rain. I don't envy the emergency workers tonight either.

~~~

Got totally sidetracked by J coming home to eat, shower and nap before heading out again for the night shift at midnight. They called off school tomorrow, already. Only JJ's school, though, since all the roads in and out are flooded.

J's asleep now; JJ and C are upstairs playing PS2, giddy with the early knowledge that they don't have to get up tomorrow. M's still at work...I took some time to do some email blah-de-blah stuff I've been meaning to get to. Now, I'm going to pour my second "glass" of wine and write some. Did I tell you how the other day I had two bottles of red opened, but with only about a half glass left in each...how I finished the one, then the other, then took a new bottle out to open that...and JJ looks at me in disbelief, says, "Are you going to open another bottle??" And then how I felt the need to totally justify myself with the whole they weren't full bottles excuse....

Zinfandel. That's truly one of my favorites. Particularly Ravenswood Old Vine, or Bogle Old Vine (both under $10!). Right now I'm on the Bogle. It's awesome. I wonder sometimes why I bother to drink cheap wine. I mean, yeah, I'm a lush, but I really, really enjoy my wine: the taste, the texture, the temperature, everything. Like coffee. You still get the caffeine high off a cup at Denney's, but is it worth it? I'd rather pay the $3 something at Starbucks and savor it. However, I did discover (did I already tell you this?) the Walmart brand wine. It's called Leaf Something - I don't remember, I could look it up but I'm too lazy - it's $2.99 a bottle and it's not bad at all! I'm such a Walmart junkie these days. I swear, I know it's all bad for the economy and unions and that, but the amount of money I save shopping there has me hooked.

Onwards...

Thanks for the long chat today. It was so nice to get caught up using intonation and inflection. There is much that is lost in translation on the computer keys, indeed. Just little things, like when you talked about W "invading your space" and the laughter that invoked...it's nice to keep in touch in RL, as M would say. That's Real Life, in case you're not up on your text language. I did have a good day, aside from the rain. I went to exchange a watch J got me for Christmas at Macy's, but had no luck. I loved the one he got me but it didn't fit right. I ended up with a gift card and another new pair of cheap slippers (the $5 Walmart ones lasted about as long - 5 days). I'll go back in a month or so and check out the new shipments. Then I had to return a bra to Victoria's Secret and decided, in exchange, to pay the extra $23 for a pair of navy blue velour sweats They are so incredibly JLo, it's not even funny. But I have to tell you, I feel sexy as all get out in them. They're all covered in silver lame (with an accent on the e) bling that says "Make Pink, Not War" down the legs, with a peace sign. They're way too long, of course, because every pair of pants in the universe is too long for me, but they're super duper soft and comfy. I might actually have them hemmed, even though they're only jammies, just because I totally love them. If I ever do wear them out in public (I'll be drunk, so this won't be a big deal) I'll be sure to wear my 5" diameter rhinestone-studded hoops with them.

When I got home this afternoon, I half watched, half slept through, Oprah, then finally got my butt off the couch at 5:00 and took a shower. I put on my new sessy sweats and and ridiculously ugly new fuzzy slippers, and now I'm so comfortable I could just melt into a coma. I thought about inviting my NDF (Non-Drinking Friend) K over to watch the news and hang, since R's out of town, but then decided against it. A) She won't share this wine and 2) I'd really rather just sit here and type.

I had my acrylic nails taken off yesterday in an attempt to move away from some of my artificial beauty routines. Why did I feel I needed to do that? Don't know. Just felt like being more au naturale for awhile. Well, first off, it hurts. My nails are so frail and thin, and the skin at the tips, under the nails, is like tissue paper. So everything that comes into contact with my fingertips hurts. What I do love? I can type like 100 wpm. I can put on lip balm from a jar. I'm going to save $40 a month. Which, I think, I'm going to spend on a massage this month, because I'm having some problems with my shoulder. I think it's just the way I sleep, but lately it's been bothering me more and more; now I have this sharp, stabbing pain from time to time that's totally new. Any excuse I can think of for a little pampering...I'm all there.

In light of our conversation today, here's an interesting scenario:

J comes home at 6:00 tonight. He tells me about his day, I tell him a little about mine. We watch the news while I put together some dinner for him. He eats and reads his Blackberry for 45 minutes, periodically looking up to listen to something I have to say, answer a question or catch something on the news. When he finishes dinner, he passes by me in the kitchen and says something about my sweats. I ask, Do you not like them?" and he replies, "No! I love them. Actually, honey, they're really hot. Maybe, you know, you and me, after I eat, we can go upstairs..." Now, I know he's not serious, so keep that in mind. But really, at that moment, I just wanted to say "Are you f***ing kidding me? You've just spent your one hour at home staying in touch with the flood of the century and now that you've got a spare minute, you want to have SEX???" I about lost my mind. I didn't say anything, but later, when he came in after his shower to say goodnight, I didn't feel one tiny bit guilty about being on the phone with KB and barely returning his kiss goodnight. I didn't hang up so I could spend a couple minutes with him, like I probably normally would. I just kept on talking, kissed him absentmindedly and went on with my conversation. I'll wake him up at midnight, which is probably when I'll go to bed myself, and he'll be off again for the rest of the night.

Yes, I feel like I should be there for him. I know he's out saving lives and property (as we always refer to this job); I know he's an American F***ing Hero and all. Sometimes I feel selfish for wanting more from him when he gives his all to the rest of the world. But today, not so much. Today, I feel like finishing this bottle of wine, which had far more than a half a glass to start with, and opening another. If I didn't feel so good in these sweats (sweats! I feel sexy in sweats, how funny is that!) I'd eat something, but right now, I'm pretty motivated not to. I don't want this feeling to go away, which it would, in a heartbeat, if I ate so much as a salad. (So, I'll just drink more. That's not real calories!) Bedsides, and I would only admit this to you, I ate a Big Mac for lunch. No lie. It's so my weakness. I could eat a freakin' Big Mac every day for the rest of my life and never, ever, get tired of them. How sad is that? Here's another "me" moment with my kids...I was chatting with JJ and JK the other day and JK said something about Pop Tarts. I immediately chime in with "OMG, if Pop Tarts were the only food left on earth, I'd be totally happy." JJ looks at me, confused, and says "You said that about chips and dip the other day!" and JK looks at him, then me, and says "Yeah, and you told me this summer that you'd be perfectly fine if the only food in the world was bread and cheese." Ooops...I should keep better track of my ultimate statements.

I'm laughing at myself, wondering if I sound buzzed as I write, because I'm so all over the place.

It was JK's 12th birthday last Saturday. She had invited two friends to go the mall for makeovers, then to the movies and her favorite pizza place for dinner. We are long past the day when JJ would be invited to her party, regardless of their friendship, so he wasn't bothered in the least. Friday night, she called over here, heartbroken that both of her friends had cancelled out on her, and wanted to know if JJ wanted to hang out with her and go to the movie anyway? Of course he did. So off we went to Target to find her a gift. We started in the toy section, but quickly realized we were off base there. I'm not a big fan of the makeup that her mom lets her wear, so when JJ suggested that I steered him toward the jewelry area. First, he chose a heart-shaped cubic-studded necklace. I told him he might want to be careful, that a heart might make her think he wants to be her boyfriend. He dropped it like a hot potato. Then he picked up a ring, and I said the same thing was true about rings. He put that down and kept wandering, until he found a necklace - you know the kind with three "diamonds" kind of in a curve, on a silver chain? What was I supposed to say to that? Dude! She's gonna think you want to freakin' marry her! I said nothing. He bought it and he was so proud. He wrapped it himself and she loved it. She wore it all day and all night, while they went to the movies, and dinner, and hung out until 10pm when her mom drove them to Dairy Queen for Blizzards. He didn't come home until 11:00. How f-in' cute is that? It was the best birthday party he'd ever been to.

I've about exhausted my reserve of Things About Which I'd Like To Ramble. I was planning to write elsewhere today too, but I'm not sure I'm in the mood now. I've got the whole day tomorrow, since I had to cancel lunch with KB. I hope you thoroughly enjoyed your snow day...another one in the forecast for tomorrow? Look forward to reading if you get time in the morning.

Love you,
A