Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from the Little Tennessee Mermaid

Can you feel the mischief in the air?

I hope everyone had a safe and happy Halloween. It poured down rain here, which really put a damper on the trick or treating. I followed Bert© around with an umbrella trying to keep her semi-dry as we participated in a “Trunk or Treat” event at a local church. She collected her candy, thanked everyone, and promptly decided that she was ready to go home. We watched “The Proposal” with Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds while Bert© was on candy patrol incase we had any treaters come to our house. She was highly disappointed as we didn’t receive even one knock at the door. However she managed to console herself by snuggling up with her mommy and eating some of her loot. We went to bed when Mr. Nascar returned home from working the Football game on Saturday night, and we all enjoyed a nice sleep in on Sunday morning.

Things that I hate…

Watching a creepy movie by myself.

Normally, I am not one to watch horror/thriller movies. Tonight I seemed to be in the mood for something a little suspenseful so I rented Zodiac with Jake Gyllenhaal and Mark Ruffalo. It wasn’t that it was particularly frightening, but I’ll admit there were a couple scenes where I had to put my hands over my eyes and peek through the cracks between my fingers. Childish? Perhaps, but it’s not like I had someone there whos hand I could squeeze or who could cuddle me up close when I began to get scared.

Thinking about that led me to think about other things I hate.

1. Eating in a restaurant alone. It’s fine when Hailey is with me, but I feel like such a social reject if I have to eat in a restaurant by myself.

2. My baby going to pre-school. No, I really am glad she’s going to pre-school, I’m just sad that it has gone by so quickly. I am reminded daily (sometimes even in stereo) that she is a big girl and can do it herself. I long for the days when I could cuddle her up close to me and just relish the feeling of holding a baby.

3. Jokes I don’t get. I have fake laughed numerous times at jokes people have told, that I didn’t understand in the slightest just to get them to move on to a new topic.

4. Compliments. Ok, maybe I don’t hate compliments. I hate that I can’t seem to just accept one. I always have to make a wise ass comment back to the person. Case in point: CG came up to me last week and stopped suddenly by my desk. He’s been laying pretty low the last couple of weeks and I have not been upset about that in the least. Anyway, he looks at me and goes “You look great today!” I looked at him and said “You’re blind.” Why couldn’t I have just smiled and said “Thanks!”? Why did I feel the need to put myself down instead of just accepting the compliment? I don’t think it has anything to do with who said it, one of the girls at work mentioned it to me. She did also say she wouldn’t let me put myself down if she was within hearing distance. How sweet is that?

6. Not getting the job I applied for at my company. I always get the brush off that I don’t have as much experience as the other candidates. Well at least that is something I can work on right? It’s not like I’m desperate for a job, and it’s always easier to find one while you are already gainfully employed.

I was thinking tonight as I watched my movie that I don’t really miss Mike, I just miss the idea of Mike. I miss the companionship and security that comes with having a significant other. I miss holding hands with someone, cuddling on the couch, or just having someone to talk with after Hailey has gone to bed.

Maybe I just need a cat! Too bad I’m allergic.

Weekend review

I had a great weekend with Hailey. I’ve been trying to spend time with her on the weekends that I have her, and do all the mundane choresy type stuff on the weekend she is with her dad. So far it has worked out really well. We rode our bikes down to the park and we had a picnic. I don’t ever remember my mom doing things like that with myself and my siblings so it’s important for me that Hailey has these memories.

 I went and saw Evan Almighty on Friday night. You know all those funny scenes they put in the trailer? Well that meant that the audience had already seen the funny parts of the movies and should not have bothered paying their $8 for tickets.

The new Harry Potter book came out this weekend. I don’t want to know ANYTHING about it. I will find out when I read it. Why people can’t keep things to themselves is beyond me. Is secrecy passe?

 Have you ever tried to pass the time by reading posts on Craigslist? Wowza you can get an eye full there!

I’m alone, alone, all alone. I’m trying to be sure that I’m ok with that. I think there’s a difference between being alone and being lonely. Am I lonely? I don’t know. I hope not because that would be depressing.

My brother has both a home phone and a cell phone. Can someone tell me why I still can’t get ahold of him?

This has been a totally random post, brought to you by Webmiss.

Can I have some cheese with my whine?

My stomach hurts tonight. I’m not sure what the cause is, but I’m pretty sure it wont be fatal. That doesn’t mean that I’m not going to grimace in discomfort and moan a little. I just wish that there was someone besides Hailey to gripe to. I love it when she sees that I’m hurt. “Oh mommy!” she says. “I’ll kiss it better.” I really do have the sweetest child. We are so much alike. I’m a people pleaser, but I hope she doesn’t get that personality trait. I think sometimes that if I was a little more focused on self preservation I wouldn’t always be taken advantage of. I want Hailey to be strong and independent, but feminine, kind, and compassionate. Is that even possible or am I wishing for something that can never be? What traits did you wish your children had? Which ones do you wish they didn’t?

I came across this on Blogthings

Your Vocabulary Score: B+

You have a zealous love for the English language, and many find your vocabulary edifying. Don’t fret that you didn’t get every word right, your vocabulary can be easily ameliorated!

How’s Your Vocabulary?

I’m very pleased with my results. I received a veiled compliment at work today. I had written an email that needed my supervisors approval of before I could send it out to everyone in my department. It was just a new process we were implementing and I was handed the task of mapping it out and putting it into an email to present it to my colleagues. I asked my supervisor what she thought of the email. “Well, I had to edit it.” I kind of gave her that quirky “Huh?” face. I had proof read it, and spell checked it twice. “What was wrong?” I asked. “To be completely honest Webmiss, I had to dumb it down.”

I chuckled at that, I guess sometimes I can be a little wordy. She did mention the fact that she had to add quite a bit to it to get my point across in a way that my coworkers could understand. Oh well, the email went out. The outcome was just as it should have been; the process has been implemented and hopefully it would make my job a little easier. My grammar might leave something to be desired at times, but I sure can wear out the words!

I watched Memoires of a Geisha on Friday night. I highly recommend that movie. I had trouble at first understanding the dialogue with the accents, but I was absolutely hooked by the end of the movie. I jumped online to try and search out the definition of a Geisha. Prior to this, I had bought into the misconception that Geisha’s were basically just Japanese prostitutes. I gleaned more information from that wonderful site that is Wikipedia and purchased the book on Amazon.com.

Virtually every time I have read the book that XYZ movie was based on, I have enjoyed both the movie and the book. If I read the book first and then watch the movie, I am most frightfully disappointed. The Harry Potter series was that way with me, I watched the movies then read the books and LOVED the whole thing. If not for the movie, I might never have read the Chronicles of Narnia.

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CG has been making a point of stopping by my desk every day and asking me what’s wrong. “You’re just not your usual happy-go-lucky self.” He keeps saying. DUH! Can anyone please tell Mr. CG exactly what my problem might be? I just tell him I’m fine, that nothings wrong and go back to what I’m doing. He’s taken to running his fingers down across the width of my cubicle wall when he walks by. It makes a noise akin to rubbing corduroy and is really quite annoying when I’m on the phone. It definitely catches my attention when he walks by so I suppose that little act is serving its purpose. I noticed that he’s still not wearing a wedding ring. At first I thought maybe it was an oversight on my part, that I just hadn’t paid attention, but no he doesn’t wear one. As curious as I am, I’m not about to ask. That is a can of worms I do not want to open.

I’m trying to be strong and ignore him. It might be a tad bit easier if CG wasn’t just so darn good looking…and I wasn’t so darn lonely.

Odds and Ends

I’m so totally addicted to Solitaire it isn’t even funny. After I’ve jumped online and read through everyone’s blogs and written my own if I feel that way, I’ll load up Solitarie on my computer and play until I can’t hardly see straight. Oooh just talking about it right now is making me want to play. Hold back, Webmiss. Finish your blog entry first! In the last week I have played 65 games of Solitaire. Sadly I have only won 7 of those games. Pretty sad statistics huh? I think I’m working on the theory that practice makes perfect. At this rate though, I have a lot more practicing to do.

Hailey and I dragged out the old Disney VHS tapes. ~ Woah, isn’t that a blast from the past? VHS tapes lol. I must be the last person on earth not watching their movies in digital crispness. ~ We’ve been watching the classics: The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Alice in Wonderland, and Beauty and the Beast. I realized something when watching these movies. Ever since Disney went into cahoots with Pixar, the movies have changed. I can hear you all saying “Well DUH, Webmiss, of course they have.” I’m not talking about the animation though. I’m talking about MUSIC. Disney movies used to win awards for their original songs and musical scores. Remember how in The Lion King, Disney brought in the talent of Elton John to write “Can you feel the love tonight”, “In the Circle of Life”, et al? What about “A Whole new World” from Aladdin and ”Under the Sea”, from the Little Mermaid? And that’s just the few that I can name off the top of my head.

 Since collaborating with Pixar I can only think of one musical Disney movie. Do you know which one I’m thinking of? I believe the song was called “You’ve got a friend in me” and it was from Toy Story, which if memory serves me correctly is the first Pixar/Disney movie. Wait just one sec for me. In an effort to be accurate, I’m going to go look that up.

[...]

Ok, thanks for waiting while I googled that. Yes, Toy Story was the first movie Pixar created for Disney.

So what happened since then? My daughter adores singing along to the songs in the Disney movies, as I’m sure a long line up of other young girls did before her. Historically, Disney movies on the whole were “musicals”, so why drop that? Is it an effort to become more adult-friendly? Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, and Cars were really the first cross-generational movies from Disney that attracted, and kept the attention of adults as well as children. I agree that marketing to the parents as well has been a lucrative move for Disney/Pixar studios, but I guess I’m just a sucker for the traditional. I miss the characters randomly breaking out into song to express their feelings about some plot twist. And darnit, you  have to admit some of those songs were incredibly catchy. Bet I’m not the only one that sings along with their kid!

Now, a little blurb about CG. We have chatted every day this week! I will be working away and all of a sudden pop! a little chat window opens up on my screen. He usually opens with something like “Shhhhhsh! You’re being too loud!” Of course that’s a bald face lie as I’m probably the quietest person in the whole building. We chat back and forth about work and life things. We joke and tease each other. I’ve learned that he’s lived here all his life. Me too! He has a younger brother and sister. He went to college and majored in Marketing. He owns his own home and has two cats. Usually we keep the conversation light and airy, but it’s nice having someone I can joke around with at work.

He has set up a recycling box in his department and scolded me for throwing my milk carton in my trash can. He retrived it and rinsed it out for me, then showed me where the recycling box is. Now I at least have an excuse to go over to his desk, so I can do my part for the environment. Ya right, who am I trying to kid? I’m just going over there to get a glimpse of the eye-candy.

He is cute though. We’re roughly the same height. He’s got short dark hair, and he usually goes a couple days between shaving so he gets this dark, dangerous looking alter ego. He stops by my desk and chats whenever he walks by. We had an interesting conversation on Friday about his intense dislike of Indian food.

Oh lord. This is bad bad trouble. I’m gushing. Wow. That’s never happened to me before.

I haven’t done anything so ballsy as to ask him out. I think I’m afraid that I’m reading the situation wrong. He does chat with other women at work. There’s even a girl he has lunch with regularly. I’ve seen one of the women in his department come over to his desk and rub his head or his neck. Then I start to wonder, is he like this with all females? Perhaps his interest in me is strictly platonic. Maybe he’s trying to boost my self-esteem? I don’t know him well enough to decide if he is just one of those people with a naturally flirtatious personality.

I guess I’m just going to stick with what has worked so far. I smile and chat with him, but keep the tone light. I have to say that I am really enjoying things the way they are right now and wouldn’t mind continuing the innocent flirting.

What do you all say?