Patty Coynes

After work today. Going to celebrate my BUSM freedom with a pint at ye old pub around 5:15ish.

Anyone in the vicinity, please come by.

Last Day at BUSM

It is my last day at Brian Utting today. I am sad, I am happy, I am a mixture of emotions and salad dressing. Just had my exit interview, who comes up with these questions I tell ya? I wish Brian could have been there. There were many thing I'd like to have said to him.

I have less and less computer time these days. My upkeep of both of my blogs has slacked greatly because of it. So much billing work to do, which only compounds my lack of real computer goof off time. I figure I'll get caught up on a lot of things after my surgery.

It's been a varied and interesting week. Ly and I went to see King Kong on Christmas eve. What a great movie. It's insane what they can do with animation these days. This monkey was one of the most emotive things I've seen on the screen. And, normally, I think of Andrian Brody as a thin waif of a dude, but damn if he wasn't one hot number in this movie. Peter Jackson did it up. He just knows how to make a good blockbuster.

Christmas was a hit. We had about 10 people over throughout the day. Ly made his breakfast pizza, which was a hit. We drank homemade Irish Creme, ate tons of food (I made my white trash taco salad later in the day), watched a gazillion movies. Santa brought us a good round of flicks this year. We got Murderball, Ong Bak The Thai Warrior, Angel, Season One, and the City of Lost Children on DVD. People relaxed, moved in and out of sleep, lounged, chatted, and basically slothed around all day. It was delightful. Ly had most of the day off yesterday. He didn't have to be to Gaelsong until 6pm last night. So we got to sleep in two days in a row. This next weekend, he has two whole days off in a row. I think we are planning on going out to my friend M's house for New Year's. They live about an hour and a half outside of town. They live on a lake. There will be fireworks at midnight, drinking and carousing, relaxing, and getting out of the city. This will be nice considering the next weekend is my surgery.

M was going to be able to come out for my surgery, and now it turns out she won't be able to. I am bummed, but what are you going to do? I think I have enough babysitters here to go around. Still though, one of these days, it will be nice to have a visit that is just she and I, and not filled with a gazillion other people. It makes me wish my mother could be here.

Speaking of my mother, she was feeling a bit blue on Christmas. I need to call her and see if she is feeling better. Her husband, my step-father, apparently never gets her a fucking Christmas present? How is that? I mean one year, she said he got her a salted nut roll? WTF? I'd be like, I got your salted nutroll right here, now get the hell outta my house. I mean shit, it doesn't take much to make a lady feel special. Do something for Christ's sake.

I have many thoughts swirling in my head about surgery, about leaving Brian Utting. I am here today, and it's my last day here. I've been here 3 1/2 years. It seems like so much longer. I'm very nervous about leaving, and very excited. So many changes coming around the bend. Just hope I'm nimble enough to traverse the corners.

I'm feeling very discombobulated, like I don't know my ass from my elbow.

They came...

So the visiting teachers came to my house to visit. She'd been trying to get ahold of me for like a month - needless to say I wasn't exactly "on the ball" in calling her back. So she finally got me at home. They wanted to come over, last night, which was a Sunday. Many of my exmo friends are like, wow, why? And you know, if I marginalize them, if I behave exclusionary towards them, then I am no different than the treatment I experienced in their church.

I told C, that I would be happy to have them over and chat, as long as they knew I had absolutely no desire to come back to church.

The came over, it was relatively banal, and chit chatty. They asked about what I did for a living, what my husband did. We talked about "The Sons of Provo" (which if you haven't seen it, run out and rent it NOW!!!!!!!! It's hilarious...you have to trust me). They gave us some "Sparkling Cider" for New Year's. I thanked them thinking of the vodka cran I would be downing that night, and they went on their merry way.

They want to come back, and I told them, with some hestitancy, but in all honesty, that they could come back. I told them that my schedule does not allow for regular visits, but I appreciated their hospitality, and we would talk soon.

Part of me did it, because you know, I've finally realized, what I am doing to dispel what I believe to be myths, if not telling them about the way I view the world? They came into my house, if they want to talk religion, I'm happy to. Perhaps they'd learn something, perhaps not - I've stopped having expectations of this. However, I'd like to think, that on some level, I have at least made a few TBMs think twice about a few things.

Tats

Tats
Originally uploaded by cwrubs.

and a far away view.

Both tats

Both tats
Originally uploaded by cwrubs.

Here are both my tootsies.

Left foot tat

Left foot tat
Originally uploaded by cwrubs.

Here is the new tat. It still looks pretty crusty, so I assume the detail will show better in a week or so.

Sex Roles Meme (I like memes, so shoot me)

Androgynous You scored 70 masculinity and 63 femininity!

You scored high on both masculinity and femininity. You have a strong personality exhibiting characteristics of both traditional sex roles.

My test tracked 2 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 66% on masculinity You scored higher than 57% on femininity

Link: The Bem Sex Role Inventory Test written by weirdscience on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

To the Hound

Do you not realize that it is your job, dare I say "duty", to keep me entertained, well-informed musically, and completely and utterly NOT bored? When am I going to get another post from you? Do not give me that claptrap of "I don't have anything to say, or I don't have some big long missive on the internal rhythm structure of Dalek's new album. (See, I DO pay attention)

I am sitting here at Brian Utting, with only three more total days of being here this month. I have absolutely nothing to do. I really shouldn't be here. Well except for the fact that I'm getting paid. So I am off to do up our checkbook, and to call on a few clients.

Ly, POST.....


pleeeeeeezzzzzzz???????

36 is a good year for Stines

Happy Birthday to my dark birthday twin.

It has been a birthday extravaganza this year. I feel very lucky. It started out Thursday with me getting my tattoo on the top of my left foot. I am working on getting access to a digital camera so I can post pics. Didn't suck as much as the first time, but it still made me scream, swear, and sing loudly. I've decided though, the rule for my life, if needles are involved, I lay down. That, and a big bubble gum ball, and I took it like a big hairy man. The tattoo is so purty though.

Friday night after work, Ly takes me to see The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. We come home, and I think we're just going to get happy, and watch an episode of Six Feet Under (we're making our way through the series). We start to come down the stairs to where our apartment door is, and Ly coughs really loudly as we approach our door. I'm like, hmmm....ponderous. We walk in the door and it's dark in the living room, and so I think, cool, we're just going to watch the movie, chill and then go to bed. We come around the corner and someone turns the light on and there are like 18 people in my living room yelling "Surprise!" to me. I think I choked on the mint I was downing. Anyway, it was a lovely party, the exact right people were there, it was just the right atmosphere, and I had a fabulous, silly, and goofy time. Thank you SO much to everyone who contributed for the tattoo and the party. It really rocked my world. And thank you SO SO much to my darling Hound. The surprises and the planning were the best gifts ever. Mouh!

So I worked all day yesterday, and after work, we had scheduled a holiday dinner with all of the ladies at the chiropractor's office, and their SO's. So Ly met me at work and we went two doors down to a lovely little Italian restaurant on Eastlake. Ly had some killer gnocchi with Italian sausage and shittake mushrooms (yummy!), and I had some linguini carbonara. Can't go wrong with bacon and cream on your birthday I say. My ass agrees. So after dinner we are all having nice conversation and then I hear the first refrains of "Happy Birthday". It didn't even hit me until our waiter brings over a lighted cheesecake as the restaurant sings. It was very cool.

So I am sitting here today on my actual birthday, after 3 days of having my birthday, ready to relax, chant, exercise, read - and probably, because I'm me, do some billing and laundry (but not much).

Anyway, Happy Birthday my dark twin, and to those other Vagittarians out there (you know who you are).

Dates, dates, dates...

So my surgery is going to be January 6th. Doc said I should be out 2 to 4 weeks. Now I have to find nurses, babysitters, and nurses outfits to boot. What's a girl to do?

I feel good about it actually. My new surgeon is a real hardass, at least to his cute little residents. I wouldn't want to be one of them. He was reeming them on how they were taking my history - which granted, is more prolific than most, but still. It was funny, I liked his sarcastic banter. It made me trust him. He said there is a 10% chance of another paralyzed cord, but he said that this was high. I told him I'd rather know exactly, than be surprised like I was last time.

Tomorrow is the tattoo. I've had to take a wee bit of Klonopin to get to sleep the last few nights because I've been nervous. Going to bring the yoga straps to tie my foot down, a pillow for my head, and a really good book for Lyam to read to me CONSTANTLY while the word needle applies to my life.

Just got off IM with my mother. She's a real kick ass gal sometimes, ya know. I love my mother. She won't be able to make it to the surgery, but she's sending some money. She came up for my show, and that meant a lot. Of course this means I need to find REALLY GOOD nurses.

Ok, done now. More billing.

Scariest Web Page EVER!

Wow, very scary

- I have more to post later. For now, chew on this link.