Stress

So, as usual I am stressed. The good news is that I am much less stressed than I was a few months ago. My dear friend and blogger posted this interesting Life Change Scale. Score your Life Change Scale for the past 6 months alone. According to psychological research, persons who total 200 points or more on the following scale within a 12-month period are more prone to physical and psychological stress-related illness than those who score less. To see where you stand, simply total the number of stress points you have accumulated in the last year. Note that both pleasant and unpleasant "life events" can cause stress. Thank you for this Nomad! As I sit here typing this I am at 210. Nice. What is your Life Change Scale number?


THE SOCIAL READJUSTMENT RATING SCALE
(Life Change Scale)

LIFE EVENT MEAN VALUE

Death of spouse 100
Divorce 73
Marital separation 65
Jail term 63
Death of close family member 63
Personal injury or illness 53
Marriage 50
Fired at work 47
Marital reconciliation 45
Retirement 45
Change of health in family member 44
Pregnancy 40
Sex difficulties 39
Gain of new family member (birth, adoption, older adult moving in) 39
Business readjustment 39
Change in financial state (much worse or much better) 39
Death of close friend 37
Change to different line of work 36
Change in number of arguments with spouse (more or less) 35
Loan of over $10,000 31
Foreclosure of mortgage or loan 30
Change in responsibilities at work (promotion, demotion, transfer) 29
Child leaving home (marriage, attending college) 29
Trouble with in-laws 29
Outstanding personal achievement 28
Spouse begins or stops work 26
Begin or end of school 26
Change in living conditions (remodeling, deterioration of neighborhood) 25
Revision of habits (dress, manners, associations) 24
Trouble with boss 23
Change in work conditions 20
Change in residence 20
Change in schools 20
Change in church activities 19
Change in recreation 19
Change in social activities 18
Loan less than $10,000 17
Change in sleeping habits 16
Change in number of family get-togethers 15
Change in eating habits 15
Vacation 13
Christmas 12
Minor violations of the law (eg traffic ticket) 11

Public art and me

I was recently in the midst of public/performance art as it was being documented... so far I've not found myself in the background of photos online.

I rode the train with these ladies on Saturday.

Two days ago I was walking by a giraffe as it was being filmed. (not the giraffe but... a bear.)

space dance

Tonight we saw a Brazilian dance company, Grupo Corpo, at BAM and we also ate Space Ice Cream (while watching Star Wars) that we bought in D.C. Guess which one was amazing and which one was a disappointment.

Adieu McMus

You will be missed.

Back a day late

We're back home! Our flight was canceled last night so we had to stay at a hotel near the airport last night and take a flight this morning... To kill our time last night we walked around a strip mall in Chantilly, VA (is this where they make the lace?). There was a game store... that is to say, there was a board game store where there were lots of people sitting around tables playing games that i'd never seen. You know the type, Dungeons and Dragons and the such. There was a rather large british guy that made fun of the wife's Ohio sweatshirt...

Hopefully more about our whole trip to come, but for now, here's a video to tide you over... we just happened upon this fun moment on the back side of the Air and Space museum.

We're heeeere

I liked your answers to D.C.=?

I'm trying to get the wife up and moving early... she's doing it but not the happiest about it.

Hi there!

So we've not been blogging... we've been busy... you know. (As in neglecting the blog, Abbi.)

But the good news is vacation is nigh!!! We depart Friday morning for 5 nights, 6 days of glorious time away! But perhaps it won't be away from our glorious readers... Perhaps we'll find some time to blog on vacation! Or at least blog about vacation when we get back. And perhaps I shouldn't say this in the event that it doesn't happen, but I'm hoping for another Wife and Man youtube video!!

In the meantime... let's think of the many things D.C. could stand for!

Dear Children
Deer Children (Doe! {D'oh!})
Dead Cow
Damp Cork
Dog Chicken
Dung Camp
Dog Corn (reverse that)
Dairy Cheese

your turn!

Neglect

*neglect, neglect, neglect*

micro-crazy

We were watching a documentary the other night and Steve Ballmer of Microsoft was on it.
That reminded me of this:




which in turn reminded me of this:




But then all that reminded me of THE GRAND FINALE!!!




Wasn't that a fun trot down Viral memory lane? Perhaps Steve Ballmer invented Viral videos for microsoft...?

We need a vacation

So we're taking one!

After years of talking about doing it, we're going to D.C. 5 nights, 6 days of our Nation's capital. We're nerds, so we're excited to see history come to life, our politicians at work, our tax dollars spent on archiving and culture. Perhaps good dining, shows at the Kennedy center and a moonlight tour of the buildings.

Help us plan our itinerary... What would you do?!

Let's make a BFD

You know what's the most frustrating of Deal or No Deall? How the family and friends are always like "She's gone through so many struggles and beaten so many obstacles in her life. She can do this!" (or some form of that)
Seriously? What does having 4 kids, being behind in car payments, fighting your way back from cancer, and saving a man's life on the subway tracks have to do with your ability to pick out a friggin' case?!!!

So turn it off! Well, I've not faced enough obstacles in life to have the power to do that.

Hectic

Once again my schedule is crazy! I set boundaries and then those get pushed. Ho hum. I just received a phone call that I am going to be a mid semester replacement for a teacher friend of mine. It's nice they thought of me and I have to take it but it's going to make my Mondays 9am-10:30pm days. Not so fun. If you thought we were going to get to hangout this semester we will have to wait until the summer. Your prayers would be appreciated! Thanks...

Urine Trouble

I had my annual physical a few days ago. It's been two years since my last one so I guess it is my alternating year physical. Unrine samples have always given me trouble. I was one of those kids who had lots of trouble using public restrooms. Thankfully, most of that bladder anxiety is gone in my adulthood but every so often it will creep back in, like when my doctor needs a urine specimen. At my last exam I was not capable of...producing. This time I planned ahead. I filled my 32 ounce nalgene and started pushing the fluids on the train. But to no avail, well, a little avail, but I don't think it was enough.

In other news, yesterday was my first day back at work and it was great! At some point I get bored over my break and miss my job so it was very nice to be back. We had to watch all the freshman do Shakespeare monologues. They had been instructed to present them as though they were auditioning, so no one had seen them before. To make it really cruel, the kids don't start their Shakespeare training until this semester so they are basically flying blind. It's a lot of pressure on the kids. It's the first time they have performed in from of their whole class and all of the faculty are there, but it's fun.
One notable performance was a girl doing a Lady Anne monologue from Richard III. She had set up blocks to represent her dead husband's body and she put a shroud over it. At one point she is kneeling next to the "body" and she pulls off the shroud and in a very unconvincing manner, faints. Freshman! Why do they make such crazy and unfounded acting choices. After a full 10 seconds all 100 of us realize simultaneously that she has actully fainted! Only at acting school can something like this happen. The paramedics came, she had to go to the hospital, it was very involved. At one point one of my colleagues was telling the paramedic, "We just thought it was part of her scene!"

The winner is...

Did all of you notice that I turned the BeBe picture post into a game?  Well, Mcüller won, and now I have to come up with a good prize to hand deliver to him when he returns Feb. 1st.  Ideas are welcome.

Our students returned to classes this week, and I start my classes next week.  I'm ready.  I think.  I'm taking Form and Meaning in Film and Visual Culture (a semiotics class).  

Ummm... that's all!  (sorry its not a cool video post like the wife's been leaving)

I changed my mind! That's not all... Michel Gondry curated the homepage of youtube.  That's kinda fun (even if he didn't pick a wifeandman video)... go check it out!

Home Library Kit

I love going to the Library. I have fond memories of all my school libraries, local libraries and home libraries. Just recently I went with my friend to the American Natural History Museum and we went to the Library there. It is only open to the public a few hours a week and we just happened to be there at the right time. It was awesome! We just started looking through whatever books captured our fancy. My personal favorite was a book that my friend found on Native American sign language. I would be happy to show you the sign for "blood" at your request. On the last page of the book there was a war paint picture key. There was one that indicated "killed an enemy using bare hands." Whoa! I am definitely hoping to go back to this particular library. Who wants to take a field trip?

For Christmas the pbf gave me the most amazing gift. A home library kit. The most exciting features are the library cards and stamp. I lend my books out a lot and now I can use these delightful cards. Here is a picture of the first card in use! There is no due date because my borrower should be able to read my books at their leisure. Yes, I know the date is wrong, that is when my patron is picking up their book. I was so excited to stamp that I pre-stamped! Also my old lady thumb has covered up the borrower's full name. This is the interweb afterall.

What's your favorite public building to enjoy?

Movies With Grandma Joy

My friend Shauna has recently created an amazing website and experiment that you should check out. It's really beautiful and made me want to hangout with some old folk!

www.movieswithgrandmajoy.com

BeBe Glamour *EDIT*

I have turned the original post below into a game!!! Match the letter of the photo with the number of the email quote you think it matches. I'll tally the scores on Monday and the closest one to matching all wins... something.

1. man to wife – “Mommy, when you aren't home daddy let's me eat peanut butter off of butter knives. It gets stuck on the roof of my mouth and I can't sleep without you anymore.”

2. wife to man – “Bebe now"

3. Man to wife – “Christmas BeBe”

4. Wife to Man – “Demon Bebe says, “have fun Daddy!”

5. wife to man – “Bebe wants me to get out of bed. Love you!!!”

6. Wife to Man – “The view from my chest”

7. Wife to man – “Bebe right now”

8. Wife to man – “Mommy worked out but I’m tired!!”

9. Man to Wife – “Mommy, I'm helping daddy study!”


Pictures of BeBe that we have taken with our phones and emailed to each other in the last 2 months, often sent with notes written as if BeBe were the sender.

A.

B.

C.

D.

E.

F.

G.

H.

I.

Leaving Lowe's Vegas

Today I spent the day with my dear friend Crystal. Since it was alarmingly warm (65 degrees!) we took a nice walk with Bebe through some neighborhoods near my house. On the way back we passed Lowe's and Crystal was saying how much she would like to go in. We put Bebe in the cart and walked around for 15 minutes. With about 20 feet to the exit we were met by our 10th Lowe's employee who informed us we needed to leave and then escorted us out of the building. So I think we got kicked out of Lowe's today. Awesome! This is Bebe and Crystal enjoying the cabinetry section.

Ohio Trip

We went to Ohio for a few days and hung out with the fam. Two of my favorite people in the whole world were there, my Mom and my Aunt. Here is a small video featuring those two lovely ladies.

Yuletide Productivity

I am done with work now until mid January so I have been working on deep cleaning the house. We have this reaaaaaally old laptop that we literally could not give away--we tried! This is what I decided to do with it yesterday.