dianaschnuth

I hate it when I have a list of things I want or need to do, but none of them sound appealing. I could and/or should be doing any of the following:

• practicing my mellophone and memorizing music
• finishing my dot book for Sunday’s LSM drill rehearsal
• finishing/fixing the halter top I’ve been making for Mom
• posting questions on the t-shirt surgery LJ community
• fixing the straps on my Drum Corps Unplugged tank (somehow)
• putting away my clean clothes
• watering my houseplants
• washing dishes
• exercising (maybe with my Yoga For Dummies DVD)
• working on the LSM site redesign

Instead? I’ve looked up the chords for “Fix You” off of Coldplay’s new album X & Y, and played that through on keyboard and guitar a few times; read a few chapters of All the Weyrs of Pern by Anne McCaffrey, and generally laid around and been a slug. I can’t get excited or motivated to do much else.

I hate that. *sigh*

I should probably wait until I have the time and attention to devote to a full-blown entry on this, but I really wanted to comment about child-rearing while it was fresh in my mind.

Nobody get the wrong idea. We’re not trying for kids yet. Still, that doesn’t stop Aaron and me from discussing our potential child-rearing tips and tricks. For instance:

• As a child, I don’t think I was spanked/punished enough. Aaron feels he may have been spanked a little too much. Between us, I think we’ll have a happy medium.
• Empty threats are useless. Back when my cousin was little, and my aunt would start counting to three, my cousin would shout back, “No counting! Stop counting!” The other day, I heard a neighbor counting to their kid, trying to get the brat to come inside. In neither case did actual spankings occur at “three” — come to think of it, neither parent ever actually *got* to three. My own mother was known to get to “two and three-quarters” quite often.
• Respect is mutual. If Junior tells us the truth and doesn’t give us reason to doubt him, we won’t rifle through his belongings while he’s gone, looking for weed or booze or porn.
• Positive reinforcement good. Distraction good. Constant yelling and smacking bad.
• Sugary snacks bad. Soda-pop bad. Fast food bad.
• TV bad. We’ve seen and read about how exposing young children to television on a regular basis can actually contribute to Attention Deficit Disorder by affecting how the brain develops in the early years. The fast-changing scenes and quick cuts that are so popular in editing can cause a child’s brain to develop in such a way that it expects such things, and is physically unable to concentrate for long periods of time. (If you doubt me on this, I can go Google the study later.) Our progeny will not be allowed to watch television until the age of two.

I know there’s a lot more that Aaron and I have discussed, and I feel it’s healthier to discuss it *now* than to wait until we’ve had Junior and we’re exhausted from all-nighters with the hellian. That will be no time to make important decisions about how to raise our child.

Of course, all plans are subject to change. 🙂

It’s not very often that I want to watch a movie. But when I do decide it’s time to waste two hours of my life on pure entertainment, it really pisses me off when I have to spend another half hour searching through EVERY GODDAMN BOX IN THE CLOSET and I STILL can’t find fucking Victor/Victoria. 75% of the VHS tapes in those boxes will NEVER BE WATCHED AGAIN, and I just sifted through them all.

OMG. WTF. All I want is my goddamn movie. Aargh!

Settle down, Beavis…

I haven’t been too prolific with the blog posts this week, so I guess I should catch y’all up on the latest. Which isn’t much, really.

Planted my baby plants on… Wednesday? Yeah. The mini daffodils are under the small maple tree, accompanied by the two snapdragons and one surviving calamint. Around the mailbox, we have three delphiniums in the back, three coreopsis around the front and sides, and two lavender between the coreopsis plants. I know it’s too crowded, but if it becomes a problem as they grow, I’ll just transplant something out. No biggie.

After waiting and waiting for the rain the weatherfolk keep promising, I finally gave the plants their Miracle Gro plant food mixed in water today. I hadn’t wanted to drown them if it had been going to rain… but, after two days of no water, I figured that was long enough to wait.

I’ve been wearing makeup to work this week—I got myself some new gray eyeliner, and I’ve been sporting that with my favorite understated lipstick. And that’s it. No foundation, no blush, very little eyeshadow. The other woman in my cube at work finally asked me today if I’d been wearing more makeup, and told me that I looked nice. So, I guess it’s being noticed, which is cool. Next task: finding a quick but more elegant hairdo than my usual ponytail or loose hair clip. (Sometimes I wear my hair down and tucked behind my ears, which doesn’t last long until I pull it back.)

Little things are important. Yeah.

Aaron cleaned the entire house this week, in anticipation of his family coming to visit for Memorial Day. Props go to him for straightening the downstairs, the dining room table, and the cat’s room (aka the crap/storage room), amongst other things. Vacuuming, dusting, dishes… he rocks, and I suck.

I’ve been working on preliminary designs for the LakeShoremen website relaunch over my lunches and breaks at work. So far, I’ve made… *counting sketches* …nine thumbnail sketches, one detailed sketch, and two Photoshop comps. Once I get more comps done, I may post some here for your review, since I’m nearly positive no corps members frequent my blog, so I wouldn’t be spoiling the surprise for anyone. 😛

…Aaaaaand I’m done.

Nothing new to report, really. Aaron’s on vacation this week and next, so I get to spend evening time with my Honey-Muffin. Yay!

I still haven’t quite recovered from my exhausting Sunday of corps rehearsal, though, and it doesn’t help that I keep staying up late so I can have more time with Aaron. 😛 Oh, so tired.

And I have so, so many things to do, big and small. Clean my desk. Redesign the LakeShoremen website. Work on my multimedia portfolio CD-R. Finish scrapbooking our honeymoon from two years ago (almost—next Tuesday will be two years). Practice my mellophone so I don’t disgrace myself in front of a battalion of returned Marines on Memorial Day.

What am I doing instead? Watching Aaron play Half Life, figuring out how to install eyelets / grommets, taking a shower, going to bed.

(As much as I want to have kids… part of me lives for these lazy evenings. In a couple few years, they’ll be a thing of the past.)