Heard on our couch last night, during ABC’s presentation of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”

Me: I always wanted that damn strawberry.  I’da kicked Cindy Lou Who’s ass for it.
Him: Why?
Me: Because it looked good.  I had this really weird thing about craving cartoon food when I was little.
Him: Huh?
Me: Like Bugs Bunny’s carrots.  They looked really good, so I always wanted one.
Him: .. you HATE carrots.
Me: I know.  In my mind, they tasted like really big Cheetos.

As someone who grew up on “Young Frankenstein”, this made me very sad..

“What will I miss?
I’ll tell you, and I know it’s very selfish:
Steve was FUN.  He knew how to have fun.
He taught me that it was okay to play in the rain,
and splash in my puddles..
he never sweat the small stuff,
because he saw the bigger picture.
And I’m trying very hard to have fun again..
Because I’m Mrs. Steve Irwin,
and I have some big shoes to fill.”
- Terri Irwin, widow of the late Steve Irwin

 

So.. yesterday sucked.  Sucked hard.  And I’ll spare you the gory details (because DAYUM, they were gory), but I will tell you this: nothing will further cement an abhorration of McDonald’s quite like blowing your nose and finding chunks of quarter pounder in the tissue.

Ah ha!  Bet I’ve broken your habit, too.  Because THAT, ladies and gentlemen, was my day yesterday.

My stomach finally calmed down around ten a.m., a full thirteen hours after it began its upheaval, and I was able to get down some ginger ale.  That’s pretty much all I’ve been able to consistently stomach.  Bryan made me a grilled cheese sandwich last night that was SOOOO good, but as I finished the last bite, my stomach made that noise that surely my neighbor heard and I realized I might’ve been pushing it.

I pretty much remained unmoving on the couch, drifting in and out of court shows and heavy sleep.  I didn’t realize the power had gone out in our house until our doorbell rang.  After struggling to quickly get the dogs outside, I staggered back to the door, opened it up, and saw our neighbor with his bluetooth headpiece in his ear.  “Do you have power?” he asked.

I looked around.  “No,” I said.

“Why not?”

I shrugged.  “Do YOU have power?”

He looked around.  “No, but I didn’t hear anything pop.  Usually something pops.  Did you hear something?”

I lied.  “Yep, sure did.  I also called the Utilities department, and they said the whole grid is out.  Goodbye.”

He stopped me from leaving.  “Well, when did they say they’d get it back on?  I work from home, and I..”

Now I’m pissed.  He could’ve called the Utilities department and asked those lovely people himself.  “Dude, I’ve been hurling all morning.  I really don’t have the strength to stand here and pontificate on the power outtage at hand.  Goodbye.”  And I slammed the door.  About ten minutes later, I heard him and Fern standing outside of my front window, talking about how no one had heard a transformer blow.  Jesus, don’t let me get old and become these people.

My quote today was from the Barbara Walters “10 Most Interesting People of 2006″ special we semi-watched last night.  Because, as Babwa WaWa told us very strongly, the show has a long-standing rule that the 10 most people have to be living in order to be mentioned, they couldn’t technically choose to honor the Crocodile Hunter.  So they honored his widow, who is just beautiful in a way that makes sense.  She is grounded, she smiles, and she has such calm, pretty features.  She and her husband were very much in love, and her heartbreak was evident, even as she smiled.  I can’t say that I am able to connect to most celebrities on a personal basis, but my heart broke for her as we watched this.  “I am trying very hard, Barbara,” she said, through tears, “but you have to understand.. I’ve lost my prince.”  I couldn’t imagine what she’s gone through.  She is my thoughts this holiday season.

‘Borat’ (aka Sacha Baron Cohen) was also one of the 10 people.  Hooray!

That’s all I’ve got for now.