a hodge podge

last night the battery in our smoke detector started beeping at around 2 a.m. my first thought was holy hell the house is on fire. my second thought was, omg this is just like the last episode of modern family where the dad runs around trying to figure out which smoke detector battery is dying. i LOVE that show btw. modern family and cougar town. rock.

i got up, got a foot stool and took the batteries out of the smoke detector. the hubs had just changed them about a week ago, but the batteries came from THE DRAWER and when batteries live in there there is no telling if they're good or not. why? because my kids don't throw batteries away when they're done, they put them in THE DRAWER. (you have that drawer too right? the one in the kitchen that ends up jam packed w/ all of the stuff that you always need and can never find? tape. screwdrivers. old tv remotes. dog brushes. nail clippers. ok, you get the point.)

the beeping stopped. then i was overwhelmed w/ this irrational fear that the house would catch on fire and we wouldn't know about it. since the house across the street burned down last year i have had the fear of a house fire in the back of my mind. it lurks there, waiting for a time when i'm most vulnerable to come out and pounce me. it did so last night. i got up a few times because i was quite sure the attic was on fire and i smelled smoke. of course it wasn't, but, you know how irrational fears play tricks on your mind.

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over the weekend the girl sprained her ankle in one of her soccer games. i barely even noticed she'd hurt herself until they were subbing another girl in and the girl was walking slowly off the field. when she got to the sidelines i asked her what was wrong and she said her ankle hurt. she'd twisted it running, didn't fall down, but hurt it just the same. lots of ice and tlc over the weekend and yesterday i took her to the dr for xrays. yep, sprained. she's in an air cast for a couple of weeks; hopefully it will heal in time for her to start indoor soccer. she stayed home w/ me yesterday. it was kinda nice to have her around for the day, even though she just watched tv and goofed around.

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this morning i was out running errands and though it is only the first part of november i was attacked a little bit but the christmas bug. damn that target. all of the christmas decor/candy is out and they have those christmas cds on the end cap that play through holiday music. i love holiday music. no, i'm not getting my cds out and putting them in the car. yet. but soon, very soon.

i had to laugh when i was at the drug store because the woman in line behind me was scarfing up a cart load of blank vhs tapes. she was talking loudly about how they were going to stop selling them and she wouldn't be able to find any and damn this and damn that and she didn't know anything about dvd players or tapes. i could practically read the 20-something clerk's mind as he told her of places she could have her tapes converted to dvds and she said but then she'd have to buy a dvd player and she didn't know a damn thing about how to work them. it made me reflect on my luddite post a few weeks ago. i'm bad, but not quite that bad.

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the boy has to wear a cup to protect his junk in karate class. i realize he's a kid, but he cracks himself up by walking around the house after class hitting the cup w/ different objects. like nun chucks. i think he might have a screw loose.

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i have started christmas shopping for the kids. a little here and there to ease the pain of one big shopping trip. i have in mind things i want to get them, but i always ask them for a list as well. should i be concerned that the girl wants colored latex gloves? her list also includes a NICE 3-hold punch (not the crappy one i got her from the dollar store); post it notes; nail polish and black lipstick.