About
I complain about the mundane and get distracted by the ridiculousFollowing
Even though I’ve been Jessica ________ for the past year and a half, I’m still struggling to remember to write my married last name while signing company Christmas cards.
I’m gonna go ahead and blame this on a brain tumor, rather than my apparent inability to learn “new tricks”. Somehow a brain tumor is easier for me to deal with.
I realize I’m probably the only person wishing winter would arrive, but it’s becoming quite difficult for me to get into the holiday spirit right now.
With temperatures hanging out in the 40’s and not a snowflake in site, I don’t know how I’m supposed to get excited for Christmas when winter hasn’t even hinted at its arrival. I want to bust out the puffy coat and mittens. I’m ready for the first big blizzard and to traipse around in boots.
I’m not talking about 0 degree weather here, people. But since I’m ready for snow, I’m ready for some 20-30 degree days. I’m sick to death of rain. It’s nearly December. There shouldn’t still be rain here! I’m planning on sledding over Christmas break, so bring on the snow!
I’m ready to cozy up in my sweaters and truly pile on the layers. So winter, any time you’re ready to arrive, I’m ready for you.
Do I really have to go back to work tomorrow?
Listen, I like my job, I really do, but there is nothing but drudgery awaiting me there tomorrow. Plus, it’s only a matter of time until the CEO can’t keep his mouth shut anymore and the whole place finds out about my pregnancy.
Oh Monday, you cruel beast, how can it be time for your arrival already?
“The Twilight books are literally the only books I have ever finished. I didn’t even finish Dr. Seuss. Twilight is the best book ever.” - my sister-in-law
She’s 18, maybe I should cut her some slack, but even my 12 year-old, 14 year-old, and 16 year-old cousins admitted that they couldn’t look at the Twilight series the same after talking to me about it and realizing what a crappy role model Bella was. Now, to be fair, I actually took the time to talk to my cousins about my views on Twilight, but that’s because they were mature enough to actually have a discussion about it.
Also overheard at Thanksgiving? The sound of my eyes rolling so hard that they almost got stuck in the back of my head. Thank god I was able to keep busy mashing the potatoes.
On Thursday and Friday, the Spike channel was playing the episodes of Band of Brothers all day. Now, even though we own the DVD’s of the whole series, I still get hooked every time it’s on TV. That show was flawless, and I can’t wait until The Pacific comes out.
Every time I watch anything about World War II, I can’t help but think about my grandpa. He was in the Navy during the war, and decided to be a diver. From what I gathered, what that entailed was jumping off the boat and checking to make sure there weren’t any bombs around. He didn’t talk much about it, just joked that the only reason he took the position was because the diver was the only one on the ship who got to drink. Apparently, every time you resurfaced from a dive, they gave you a shot of brandy. I love the idea that my grandpa chose his position based on access to booze. It’s how I know we’re related.
But honestly, I know very little about his time in the war. No one knows very much. He never talked about it. Never talked about the people he met or the friends he made. Never really talked about what he saw, except that on D-Day, they were off the shores of Normandy and he had to dive down to remove the bodies of dead soldiers from the propellers of the ship. Perhaps we were all so horrified at that story he knew he couldn’t tell us any more.
When Saving Private Ryan came out, my mom offered to take my grandpa to go see it. We all thought he’d appreciate what was finally an accurate depiction of the war. He refused. He said he’d been there, he’d seen it, and he didn’t need to see it again. I think it was the first time I realized that the war actually affected him. That he wasn’t the smiling, dapper guy in those navy blue bell bottoms that his pictures portrayed, but a man who had witnessed the horror of war and needed no reminder of it.
My grandpa was so gentle, it’s hard to imagine him touched by the violence of World War II. I look at my brother, who seems to be haunted by the demons of Iraq on a regular basis. Over 2 years later and he still has trouble sleeping at night, and absolutely can’t sleep unless the house is the exact right temperature. But he reads books about the war in Iraq, watches movies, plays war video games. It’s interesting to me how two men who saw so much violence reacted to it so differently.
My brother grows impatient when we ask him what things were like over in Iraq. My grandpa glossed over the details by telling funny stories. My brother-in-law barely speaks about his time in Afghanistan and Iraq at all. Maybe that’s why a show like Band of Brothers intrigues me so much. Maybe it’s because that show is the closest I can get to understanding what my loved ones have gone through.
And for once, I actually had things I wanted to blog about this weekend. The cable guy finally arrived this afternoon, right at 3:00, when the Vikings game started.
While I’m happy our internet is finally working again (and who even knows what was wrong with it in the first place. Sometimes I think the cable company just likes to mess with us) I wish the guy could have come around noon, when I was watching The Good Son out of desperation.
Instead, I’ve missed most of the Vikings touchdowns. So annoying.
Oh well, thanks anyway cable guy. All my blogging ideas are lost and I’ve missed nearly half the football game, but at least internet returned just in time for me to do some crunch-time work.
Not only did I survive Thanksgiving, I actually really enjoyed it. There were some awkward moments with the in-laws (I’ve yet to figure out how to interact with his uber-conservative family without being afraid of saying the wrong thing) but it all surprisingly smoothly. And dinner with my family was fantastic.
For the record, I’ve been doing two Thanksgivings my entire life (I grew up doing it with my mom’s side and then my dad’s side) and I highly recommend it. I don’t even like Thanksgiving food all that much, but sitting down and having two meals is effing fantastic. I would like to be fed two big meals EVERY day.
Anyway, tonight, I am thankful for The Husband, who fits right in to my wonderful, loud, funny, crazy family and actually enjoys them. And I’m thankful for my wonderful, loud, funny, crazy family. Knowing I got to see them this evening made my entire day because I love them so much.
Now my only goal is to keep my stress levels down for Thanksgiving Part III with the other set of in-laws on Saturday, realize that I need to find my neutral, know that I can’t control everything, and hope they don’t overstay their welcome at my house.
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! I’m gonna go pass out now…
(via bunkercomplex)
This is fantastic, and will obviously be the picture I see in my head once pie is served.
