In Another World

I am unspeakably lame. Thursday was busy for me because I had to go shopping for John's birthday the next day. I put everything off. I took the kids to the mall, and we bought him a pair of slippers that he needed, two work shirts that he also needs and a book. He is so damn hard to buy for. I had something else I thought about getting him, but I still can't remember what that was. It will come to me when it no longer seems like a good idea. I later found out the slippers were more his idea than anyone's as his incessant talk about how much his previous slippers were falling apart was all a plot to make sure he received new ones as a gift. It worked, and he's happy.

For his birthday, I was making a lasagna for him. That man is like Garfield the cat in his love for lasagna. Rather than the frozen version I served on Valentine's Day, he asked that I make this lasagna, and since it was his birthday, I felt I should oblige. I had to shop for all dinner ingredients that day, because our kitchen was bare from not having shopped in weeks. A couple hours and almost $150 later, I arrived home where I reorganized the fridge in order to fit all the new stuff in there. Reorganization means throwing out all the forgotten leftovers and food we just don't want, which filled the garbage can. I took the garbage out myself, since no one wants to do work on a birthday. John already had to work at his everyday job, so I could at least make his day a little better by not making him do his work at home.

After the fridge overhaul, it was time to start cleaning up the kitchen so I could cook. I loaded the dishwasher, did dishes, started a loaf of bread in the bread machine and began preparing lasagna ingredients. When Hammy came home, he was assigned bathroom cleaning and some other household chores, since the lasagna recipe I chose wasn't quite as easy as it looked. John came home a little early and took a nap on the couch, something he would need since he was to be at work at 5:30 AM Saturday morning for the new software release there. I dreamed of napping myself each time I passed, but I had too much to do to indulge that fantasy. His parents were coming to dinner as well, so the house had to be presentable along with serving food.

I worked my ass off even a little past his parents' arrival. I served salad to appease the starving masses, since the bread and lasagna were a little late to finish. Next the bread was served, while the lasagna that did not cook in the 30 minutes the recipe said, cooked for a few more minutes. A little bit later, I risked serving the now hot lasagna, only to find the no boil method yielding chewy noodles. Though it wasn't so bad as to be inedible, and the lasagna did taste good, I was disappointed. I threw the thing back in the oven for ten more minutes, and it came out perfect, but everyone had already eaten a slice and didn't want another, probably exhausted from chewing the first time.

The kids encouraged present opening, and John was his usual exuberant self; "Oh, thank you," "Yes, that's nice," and "I needed that" in his best Ben Stein impression. I think he was happy though. After some craziness from the kids who were showing off for grandparents, banana splits were served. John doesn't care for cake or sweets in general, so whatever he wants, goes on his birthday. I stuck a candle in his ice cream, and we all sang Happy Birthday to the still sparkling boy. He is 35 and thrilled about it.

After a busy, rough week, I didn't do a damn thing all weekend. In fact, I did worse than that. I totally blew my weeks of healthy eating. I ate lots of cookies and junk food and didn't even exercise to burn it off. Instead, I played Riven, one of the gifts John bought for me a couple weeks ago.

I played Myst a few years ago and absolutely loved it. When the third installment came out last year, I wanted it, but I hadn't played the sequel, so I didn't buy it. John picked it up off eBay for me, but I didn't install it, knowing how obsessed I was with Myst. John was playing out with the band both Saturday and Sunday (ugh!) nights, so I thought it the perfect opportunity to play. I started Saturday evening with the kids thoroughly engrossed behind me. They didn't even want to go to bed, but I forced them and continued playing until John came home at 2:30 AM. I think I even went a half hour beyond that time as John lay on the couch, waiting for me to come to bed.

Sunday morning, I was at it again for a couple hours until John got peeved with me, so we went and had a little argument for a while. After working that out, he and I played the other game we've been doing together for the past couple weeks. Before we knew it, it was time for him to get ready to go and time to eat dinner as well. I was back to Riven, taking breaks to eat and say goodbye and get the kids bathed and in bed. Again, I played until John got home, this time at 1:30 AM.

So this morning, you can guess what I did. Once Booie was off to school and the laundry was started, I finished the game before 10:00. So now that's behind me, and I can get on with my life� at least until I get Myst III. I think I'll hold off on that for a while.

I heard lots of negative reviews for Riven, and it was very difficult to find in any stores. I really enjoyed it though, and thought the graphics were fantastic, much better than Myst had been. I have no real knowledge in computer games though, so my opinion probably isn't worth a whole lot. I had a great time with the game, obviously, considering my obsession with it. I love games that don't involve shooting things to shreds, instead using the brain to work your way through it. I get a real kick out of solving the puzzles and moving forward. I got Hammy hooked, and he installed Myst on his computer Sunday night and started playing just as obsessively as I had. Thinking games are the coolest.

Now I'm in that sort of post-game depression, but I have enough work around the house to keep me busy. I should really think about starting back to exercising today. I was thinking about making it an all Tae-Bo week to burn off my cookie indulgence from the weekend. I bet I won't be losing weight this week! I'll be lucky to maintain.

I think my binge was caused by a general feeling of discomfort I've had the past week or so. I'm unhappy with myself and feel an unexplained disappointment, even before I Cookie Monster-ed this weekend. I'm just out of sorts, despite getting so much done lately. Maybe this little hiccup in my plan will get me righted again. I hope so, because I'm tired of feeling so down.