artykins

So Jeremy has been sick all week with some sort of viral nasty that's rendered him homebound.  I was talking to him last night online and he was explaining to me how stir crazy he's going, but somewhere during the conversation we started talking about names for my future children.  I can't recall the exact conversation, but it went something like this:

Arty: I really like the name Chloe for a girl.

Jeremy: Chloe is a nice name.  What about a son?

Arty: Yeah, I'll have one of those.

Jeremy: Name him Testicles.

Arty: ...

Jeremy: And his brother, Scrotumus Maximus.

Arty: I'm not naming my sons those things!

Jeremy: That would be amazing!  What are you talking about?!

Arty: I like the name Christopher.

Jeremy: Boring.  Name him Testicles!

Arty: NO!

Jeremy: You know you want to.

Arty: I really don't.

My brothers are constantly making me laugh.  I love 'em for it too!

My hands have kind of gotten used to a state of perpetual dryness.  I wash my hands very frequently at work and at home while I'm cooking, but I don't always moisturize.  I don't like the lotion at work.  We order Lubriderm, which I find much to greasy.  The stuff I use at home is vegetable-based.  It's made out of carrots and melon and other antioxidant fruits and veggies.  I love that stuff.  If I could bathe in it, I would, but I relish the time I spend afterwards just applying it to my legs and arms.  Say yes to carrots!

I found myself inexplicably pondering the life of a squirrel this morning as I was walking to work.  He (or she, I'm not really sure, but we'll name it Alistaire) was eating a nut.  As squirrels tend to do.  And I found myself wondering how Alistaires life would end, whether he'd be hit by a car or die of old age.  I thought this because earlier this week there was a dead squirrel in the courtyard and I mourned for it.  I thought of Fred and what happened to her.  And strangely enough, I found myself praying that Alistaire would live a full life doing whatever it is that squirrels do.

On a happier note, I'm going to a baseball game next weekend.  Woo!  The hometeam is playing the Arizona Diamondbacks, who a few years ago won the World Series against the Yankees.  And the world rejoiced that the Yankees lost.  So a small part of me has an affection for the Diamondbacks.  I'm not sure how that'll hold up against my loyalty to the A's, though.  We'll see.

Despite this, though, the game will be a fireworks game, which means that after the ninth inning is called, people from all tiers of the stadium will flood the field to watch the sparklies.  We're going to stay in our seats.  There's no reason to go field level when we have second tier seats more or less behind homeplate.  Of course, the last fireworks game we went to, Jeff's life was apparently made complete when they did a tribute to the 80s for music and ended the show with 'Sweet Child 'o Mine.'  I'm pretty sure he wet himself when he heard that music start.

Of course, that game was made special because after attempting to get field level, we gave up (due to the gross amount of rowdy peoples) and went in search of Mr. Branagh.  I'm sure I've mentioned him before.  He's a dear and delightful old codger that has a very special place in my heart.  He was the custodian at my elementary school when I was there and now he stays active by coming back to the same school each day to do yard duty.  It was while he was working there and while I was working in the library that we struck up a strong friendship.

Granted, our friendship revolves around giving each other grief,  but deep down, I love him and I know he loves me.  If I ever doubt that (not that I will) I'll just pull out the Waterford champagne flutes he gave us as a wedding gift to use when we made our toasts.  He's amazingly good people.  Cranky, but amazing.

Come to think of it, I haven't seen him in a while.  I should fix that.

I was approved for two weeks off in late August!  Woo!  If all goes according to plan, Matt and I will be hopping a plane to Hawaii with  Uncle Benny, Diana and possibly her viejos (old people, which in this case refers to her parents).  Alf is also in the mix as far as going, but we're not entirely sure he'll be going.  He's been travelling back and forth to Europe for his job and he doesn't know if he'll be in Germany, France or London in August, but he's finidng out.  Hawaii with Alfenstein would be awesome.

Alright, that's enough for this morning.  If anything eventful happens today, I'll let you know later on!

- Arty