Friday, September 26, 2008

64min and 38 seconds to save the world

Even though Sanna and I communicate daily via IM or email, I thought after the proposal question we should talk person to person and called her on her cell phone Sunday evening.

As it turned out, she was driving back from a weekend spent with Dave in Virginia and was falling asleep at the wheel and needed some company. Being the good friend that I am, I started talking and according to the phone bill, we talked for 64min and 38 seconds.

What, you may ask, could we find to talk about for 64min and 38 seconds?

Oh you know.....this, that and the other thing.

She did divulge, that after due consideration and after reading the thoughtful comments from the readers of Calling Dr. Bombay, she has decided to wait for Dave to do the proposing. I think it was the final comments from GLove that did the trick.

Do you have long, luxurious phone calls with your friends, long distance charges be damned?

Or am I the only one that is so carefree with her money?

Thursday, September 25, 2008

resentments and silver linings

It's not always fun and games over here at Calling Dr. Bombay.
 
Some mornings I wake up with a heart full of resentment.
 
Resentment over the fact that my husband won't rinse his dishes and put them in the dishwasher on a regular basis.
 
Resentment over the fact that I live 3 hours away from my parents and best good friends
 
Resentment over the fact that I live even further away from my sister and her kids
 
Resentment over the fact that I will never again be able to walk a straight line or trip lightly down the stairs.
 
Resentment over the fact that I have to go to a wedding next weekend and mingle with people I don't know.
 
Resentment over the fact that it is a good bet that my husband will drink too much at the wedding and I'll have to drive him home.
 
Resentment over the fact that my tooth aches when I eat anything sweet which means a trip to the dentist (please dear god, not another root canal)
 
Resentment over the fact that by the end of the day I will have developed a pounding headache which is a clear indication that I need to get a stronger contact lens prescription.
 
But then I sit myself down for a stern talking to and try to look for the silver linings: 
 
1) At least I have a dishwasher and electricity and don't have to wash my dishes in a bucket of water like some people in Houston have to do.
2) That is what the telephone and the internet is for, not to mention old-fashioned letter writing
3) I'm driving up to Vermont to spend the week with my sister and her kids
4) At least I can walk unassisted and don't need a wheelchair just yet
5) I'll get a free lunch
6) He'll owe me big-time
7) This is an added incentive to quit eating sweet things
8) Take two Advil and be thankful that it's not optic neuritis or diplopia
 
What do you resent?
 
And can you find the silver lining?
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Monday, September 22, 2008

It's Elemental

When Ginger was visiting me last month, in a fit of nostalgia we went through my high school memorabilia.

I came across this notecard from 12th grade chemistry




When I was taking the class I barely understood it and now it is complete gibberish.

What I do remember is this:

Fe = Iron
How I remember this is that a farrier (which starts with an F) is another name for a blacksmith and he puts IRON shoes on horses

Pb = Lead
How I remember this is from the book "The Mouse and The Motorcycle"by Beverly Cleary . The way Ralph S. Mouse gets his motorcycle to move is by making the sound "Pb-pb-b-b-b. Pb-pb-b-b-b." Motorcycle=getting the lead out.

Mo = Molybdenum
One of my best good friends in high school had the name Molly. Molly = Moly(bnenum)

Sn = Tin
I remember this one because in order to cut tin you need tin sn(ips)

And that is pretty much all I remember of chemistry.


Although in my job I do on occasion have need for Potassium = K, Magnesium = Mg, Calcium = Ca, Titanium = Ti

Which ones do you remember and how?

Friday, September 19, 2008

Twosies

Thank you internets, for your wise counsel on the question of whether Susanna should propose to Dave. Although I feel compelled to mention that some of you missed the point of the question. 
 
It wasn't so much whether or not Sanna and Dave should get engaged/married, but rather should SHE ask HIM to marry her.
 
Nevertheless, I'm sure Sanna will take what you learned people have said under advisement. 
 
I will issue periodic reports on the situation as it develops further.
 
I know that with the all other major things going on in the world right now this whole question might seem trivial, but I think it vividly points out that life continues to go on, even in the midst of a hurricane or a Wall Street tumble.
 
I will leave Sanna with this final thought (courtesy of SIL Jenny)
 
Britney proposed to KFed......
 
Now back to our regularly scheduled programming:
 
Two Songs I'm Really Digging Right Now:
Sandcastle Disco - Solange Knowles
Chasing Pavements - Adele
 
Two Think I'm Eating
Chocolate covered popcorn - (Thank you Cory)
Leftover candy from the Labor Day parade (Thank you nephew Alex for collecting said candy!!)
 
Two Movies I Recently Watched and Loved:
Gunga Din - why does India seem so romantic in the movies
The Purple Rose of Cairo -  even though he might have only a small part - any movie with Edward Herrman is immediately improved
 
Two Things I'm Contemplating Purchasing:
A new winter coat from LL Bean - faux shearling parka or lambswool duffle
A new comforter for our bed - goose down or flannel
 
Two Options We Are Debating As A New Source of Heat for the House:
Pellet stove
Gas stove

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

help me to help her

Last week I got the following email from Sanna (for any new readers, Sanna is one of my best good friends since grade school days):

This was the email in its entirety:

i'm considering proposing to Dave.
what do you think

She sent this email to both me and her sister Johanna.

Dave is Sanna's boyfriend .

Here is some background on Dave and their relationship:

1) They met April 14 2007 on a camping trip set up by a mutual friend
2) Their first date was May 18 2007, she went to his house - he had tickets to see a concert but then lingered over dinner and opted to go to his house and have a firepit in his yard and drink wine
3) They are both 36
4) He was married for 4 years, no children, he's been divorced for 7 years
5) She has had several serious relationships
6) She lives in PA - he lives in VA
7) She makes more than he does
8) He is in interviews about a job in PA near hers
9) Which means they are talking about his moving in with her
10)He is well liked by her family and friends

When I read the email my first thought was to say "DON'T DO IT....WAIT FOR HIM TO ASK YOU"

And then my second thought was..... "don't offer your friend relationship advice....remember the whole Colin debacle?".

The Colin debacle was quite simply Susanna asking me for advice and I foolishly advising.

Wrongly.

I am a pragmatic.

I think Sanna should wait and let it evolve naturally.

Johanna on the other hand, was all for it.

Her suggestion went something like this:
it seems like you are itchy to give him a special gift to show him how special he is to you, so, why don't you just buy him a ring and keep it on your person whenever you guys are together
and then when/if he proposes to you with a ring, you can have your beautiful moment and then say, 'wait, i have something for you too'.that way you both have a special token and you get to experience areal proposal from the boy who loves you so much and vice versa.


But she is a romantic.

There are two TV instances that stand out in my mind as reasons for the woman not to propose:

1) Gilmore Girls - Lorelai proposed to Luke and he accepted. He later flung that back in her face
2) Sex and the City - Charlotte inadvertently proposed to herself. She later got a huge Tiffany ring but still, it was a foreboding.

Have any of you ever proposed?

Would you propose?

How would you advise Sanna?

Friday, September 12, 2008

Jaws

When you hear the word Jaws what pops into your mind?

Jaws the movie









The James Bond villain Jaws




(The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker)






And if you are a sports fan ......
Ron Jaworski, former Philadelphia Eagles quarterback and currently a football analyst for ESPN.

While I am a sports fan, I am NOT a Ron Jaworski fan. The reasons are many. Too many to mention here, but just know that I can't bear to hear him talk. According to my husband, Jaws actually does know his football (and is not afraid to tell you!!)

The other night I had a dream that I was on the sidelines at a Pittsburgh Steelers game. I was tossing the football back and forth with a nameless Steelers player, when I was brutally tackled from the side. After I picked myself up and dusted myself off I was unpleasantly surprised to discover that I had been tackled by none other than Ron Jaworski.

I was mildly irritated all day.

I even called Tom at work to tell him about my dream.

He consoled me with this thought, "It could have been worse, it could have been Joe Theisman."

Tom knows that my disgust for Joe Theisman runs deep and true!
And that, my friends, is how I know that football season has come to my house!
Has it come to yours?!

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

baby got back

There was a time when I was in high school that I was obsessed with my ass.
 
I was sure that it was too big.
 
I wore long sweaters and big shirts to disguise it. 
 
Every day in the cafeteria I took the long way round a table of upperclassmen boys because I was sure that Corey Hoffman  would be staring at my ginormous rear-end and could never ever love me!!!
 
Over time, my obsession faded away and I never really worried about my body again. 
 
But this morning prior to getting dressed, I was looking at myself in all my naked splendor in the mirror and it suddenly occurred to me that my 9th grade self would be positively mortified and quite possibly incapacitated if she could see the sheer size and magnitude of her ass now!!!
 
 
 
 
 

Tuesday, September 09, 2008

Notes

Weather - It was pouring down rain here in NJ this morning.  The sky turned as dark as night and the heavens opened up.  For a while it was like our own mini-hurricane.  As luck would have it, I left the living room windows wide open.
 
Appearance - I have a pimple on my forehead. It looks like I have been shot right between the eyes. As such, I'm wearing my hair very low over the forehead today.
 
Sports - So far football has been awesome - sidenote to Tom Brady and Peyton Manning:  practice makes perfect.
 
TV: 30 Rock and The Office are coming back. WOO-HOO!
 
Books - I'm re-reading the Anne of Green Gables series. They just never get old.
 
Movies - I just saw Waitress over the weekend.  Keri Russell totally surprised me.  She is actually quite funny.
 
Food - The season of candy corn is rapidly approaching AND my blog-friend Cory has promised me a delicacy. Chocolate covered popcorn.   
 
Clothes - Time to put away the summer wardrobe and bring out the fall.  I need some new clothes.  Maybe something in burnt orange for fall?
 
Husband - Nothing bad to report here. I'm quite liking him at the momemnt. 
 
Health - The MS is held in abeyance and I haven't fallen down in months (knock on wood)
 
Wealth - Got a 5% cost of living pay raise
 
Happiness - As always I am happy but yet never too far from a moment of unhappiness. 
 
How about you, my lovely little blog friends?  Any notes you want to share with the class?
 
 
 
 
 
 

Thursday, September 04, 2008

blue no more

Because I was feeling blue and in need of a friend, I called Ginger last Thursday and asked her if she would come out and spend Labor Day weekend with me. 
 
And she did.
 
We sat around and gossiped and argued and laughed and reminisced and were generally silly creatures all weekend.
 
It was good.
 
By the time she left on Monday I was no longer blue.
 
In other news, I have finally slogged my way through the last of the blogs in my blog reader. I kinda took some time off from the whole commenting thing.  Hey, it was summer and I needed a vacay!!
 
So to all of my lovely blog friends.... fear not, I will be returning to form and resuming commenting. 
 
Further news.... I am finally reading Charlie and The Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl.   
 
As a matter of fact, I think for the month of September (which for me is murder mystery month) I am also going to re-read some books from my childhood.
 
What are you going to read this month?