The Clam Rampant

clamrampant February 23rd, 2009

Sorry to have been away so long – it’s been difficult finding time and energy to post lately – but I seem to be on an upswing, so I’m making the most of it. 

Canuck and I are settling into married life surprisingly easily. We’re still trying to get the condo to look like a home rather than a storage unit with a bathroom, but we’ve made some significant progress on that too.

Bathroom. Scale. Ugh! I haven’t gotten on the scale since before the wedding; a couple of weeks ahead, I just stopped weighing myself. I figured that if there was bad news, that wasn’t the time for me to find out.

Trouble is, ignorance is really bliss when it comes to that. I was trying to cheer up/give perspective to a friend who (wrongly) thought I was soooo much thinner than she was, so I pulled out a tape measure and said “Let’s go.” The good news is that she felt much better; the bad news is that I found out what my measurements actually are. It’s hard to fully enjoy that luscious brownie sundae when that obnoxious little voice in your brain is whispering your hip and waist measurements to you, you know?

But apart from the obvious Church-prescribed days of fasting and abstinence, I don’t think I’m going to make my Lenten penance be food-related. I am going to start being more careful, and am going to try to eat more fruits and vegetables and drink a lot less pop, but not tied to Lent.

Meanwhile, a dear doctor friend of Canuck’s and mine gave us a really nifty scale for a wedding gift – it’s one of those ones that, in addition to your weight, tells you what percentage of your body weight is fat. (EVIL friend! EVIL! OK, so we registered for it…shut up…) AND it’s got two memory settings. So for the month of March, I’m going to make a point of weighing myself once a day – again, not tied to Lent, just trying to form a new habit. Come late March or early April, maybe I can start building in a little bit of exercise. Nothing intense, just a short walk or somesuch. (SHORT, Big Seester. You and I will not be walking together any time soon, you freaky half-marathon-walker! Love, Leetle Seester.)

As for Lent, I’ve asked my beloved husband to try to come up with my biggest flaws so my penance can hopefully work toward mitigating them. For some inexplicable reason, he seems hesitant. I wonder why?…

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clamrampant February 18th, 2009

http://www.ewtn.com/vnews/getstory.asp?number=93801

That’s all I have time to say right now – I couldn’t even wait ’til lunch to post this.

God bless Pope Benedict!!!

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clamrampant February 7th, 2009

This won’t be long…I expect to have some time to compose a leisurely post tomorrow. I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who commented on that last post. Your comments did help.

I think I still may have a cosmo or three tomorrow, though.  :-p

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clamrampant February 6th, 2009

You know that part of Matthew 6 where Jesus tells us not to worry? That’s one of my all-time favorite parts of the Bible.

You know why? ‘Cause I just don’t seem to be able to beat it through my enormous skull.

Yesterday Canuck gently (well, as gently as possible) broke to me how much we are going to have to pay Uncle Sam for this next step in the immigration process. It’s over a thousand dollars. We’ve got it, but we were hoping to replace our furnace and air conditioner.

I had a little freak-out. He talked me down. I felt…better, but not great. He showed me a post from a friend that reduced me to tears because I was so amazed by the depth of her and her husband’s faith, and so ashamed of the shallowness of mine. I resolved to trust God more.

Then we went to run our errands for the day, and the car wouldn’t start. Again. This time it waited until I had just hung up with AAA and Hertz, then came alive. I cancelled with AAA and kept the Hertz rental (it’s an excellent rate, and we’ve got places we need to go). Dropped the car off at the dealership, ran to Hertz, and got what we could of the errands accomplished (which, for the record, is to say that we got to the Secretary of State and waited there, only to be told that I couldn’t change my name with them until I had changed it with the Social Security office – that’ll be another post – so we did not, in fact, accomplish much of anything). Went to friends’ house for dinner and had a lovely, lovely evening, in which I managed to mostly forget how freaked out I was about both the immigration money and the car. The husband counterpart of this family we are friends with even suggested that it might just be the battery. I was happy with that theory.

This morning the dealership called.

It’s not the battery.

They are pretty sure it’s the starter.

They are going to pop it out and see if they can just replace the contacts. If so, then after our discount (the dealership gives discounts for repairs on cars with 100K+, 200K+, 300K+, etc. miles)  we’re looking at about $300. If not, we’re looking at more like $500.

I just put almost a thousand dollars into this car in December. I am not a happy little clam.

Replacing it is really not an option at this point – if we were going to do that, we should’ve done it in December. Now…well, we’re getting into that tricky area of sunk costs vs. throwing good money after bad.

In fairness, the car’s been outstandingly reliable. I bought it with 173K miles about five years ago. It’s now got 274K. And no matter how good a car is, with that kind of mileage, you’re going to have repairs. One pretty much has to bank on either having a car payment or having repair bills. Cars break.

I am not sure why this one had to break just now.

I keep reminding myself that God never gives us more than we can handle. I am inadvertently also reminded that Mother Teresa famously said that sometimes she wished He didn’t trust her quite so much.

I’m such a faith baby. I’m so wobbly. I wish He didn’t think I could handle what He does.

My parents are down South for an extended vacation. Canuck suggested we call and see if we could borrow their other car. They’re happy to lend, but the keys are with them – Dad is FedExing them back so we can borrow it. Lord love him. Dads are great.

Deep breaths, Clammie. This too shall pass.

Please, Lord, keep us and the rental car safe. I can’t afford to fix another car…

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clamrampant February 5th, 2009

I’ve noticed, as I drive by a couple of Church of Christ buildings in the area, that they seem to have a message on the roof. No, I’m not kidding, other never-been-COC folks reading this. It says “Aerie” and then a number.

I have to admit that my first reaction was to make up an answer that involved each COC congregation putting this code onto their roof so that Jesus would know which churches were theirs when He comes back. (I said, only half jokingly, “Do ya really think He needs it, what with, you know, being God and all?”)

Apparently I failed in charity, though.

I’m sorry, COC.

(I do have to cop to having liked my explanation better – it was much more interesting.)

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clamrampant February 4th, 2009

I know what Victoria’s Secret is. It’s that she hates peasant women.

Men, I am warning you now: this is NOT going to be a sexy post. This is an embittered, chubby woman complaining about lingerie shopping. It will not, repeat, will NOT involve any pictures of anything you’d want to see, and will in fact probably gross you out exceedingly. Men: continue reading at your own risk. I do not want to hear groans and moans from traumatized men who never wanted to think about the things I am going to talk about. You read on, it’s your own darned fault.

Continue Reading »

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clamrampant February 2nd, 2009

I had a great return post planned. Unfortunately, I got one of those stupid and entirely preventable burns in the kitchen this evening, so my left hand is slathered with aloe gel and wrapped in gauze. Which makes typing onerous.

So – I’ll be back as soon as the burn heals, which is probably tomorrow but perhaps the next day. ‘Til then!

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clamrampant January 8th, 2009

As I was about to sign off, another thing hit me. So this is for Day…19?

Anyway. I really appreciate how concerned he gets when I’m sick, and how even in the middle of the night, if he wakes up and realizes that I’m awake or out of bed, he comes to find me to make sure I’m ok. (Don’t get me wrong – if I’m super sick I don’t necessarily want him to come find me upchucking, but I appreciate his concern.)

I count that I still need to post 8 Jaibee Challenges, but I’m going to check my math tomorrow before I dive in…

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clamrampant January 8th, 2009

…so I was mistaken yesterday, and that second part of the Jaibee Challenge was for Day 18. Or something.

Anyway, we are now T minus 16 days. Canuck and I went to meet with the florist today to finalize everything. Due to budgetary constraints we made a couple of small changes, and due to availability constraints the florist will in fact be dyeing white hydrangeas for the tie-in instead of ordering what they call antique hydrangeas.

But I have full confidence in this florist, and as we’ve all realized by now, even if the flowers are ugly, Canuck and I will still be just as married as if they are gorgeous. And I think they will in fact be gorgeous. And better yet, they’re paid for!!

We’re finalizing the count (psst! If you were invited and haven’t RSVP’d  yet, or if I’m waiting to hear if you’re bringing a date, call or e-mail me before Saturday!) and calling our mothers to find out what colors they’re wearing. I know my mother’s is some sort of purple (surprise, surprise), but frankly I’ve forgotten which shade.

The dress is due to ship tomorrow, and the fitting is next Thursday. That’s all paid for, too.

The liturgy is almost set – I need to e-mail our officiant and our homilist, and a couple of other things here and there, but basically set. The marriage license has already arrived and been dropped off to the marriage coordinator at the parish. I still need to drop off the donation to the church and the check for the music minister’s services, but I’ll be at the parish tomorrow, Sunday, and Tuesday. No big thing.

The worship aids aren’t done yet. I forgot to plug them into the budget. Honey?…

It’s ok. I’m not going to let myself freak out over it.

But I am going to go take a hot, soothing bath and drink a cup of egg nog (caught some on 50% off that still has a week before it goes off). So tonight, instead of catching up on missed Jaibee Challenge days, I will just do today’s

Day 16 before the wedding – what stands out for me that I love and appreciate about my sweetie?

I guess the defining thing about today has been his ability to pare down, distill, and respond to overblown fears with reason, sense, and evidence. Even when he’s scared too.

I love you, Sweetie!

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clamrampant January 6th, 2009

A high school classmate of mine just updated her Facebook status. She meant to say she’d bawled her eyes out watching a movie. But that’s not what she wrote.

And my Jaibee Challenge of the day: I love that I told this to Canuck, he immediately got it, and he laughed.

Bedtime!!!

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