Iz Grumpy

[lls_mutant]

God, did I get PMS as a birthday gift? It sure as hell feels like it.

So, yeah, it's my birthday. And I hereby confess to being really shitty this year about wishing people happy birthdays. I've missed... well, everybody's. It started when I was doing my PPD thing with Trevor, and I just never caught back up. So, happy belated birthday to my entire flist :P

I'm totally grumpy. Both my kids decided that they didn't want to nap. Yay. I mean, Howard's home, so he's got Toby downstairs and I've got Trevor up here, but it's still not the same. I have a headache, and the past few days have been rather sucky in a petty sort of way. And I'm feeling old. I'm not that old- I'm only 34- but I think I really have to stop thinking of myself as young. And NaNoWriMo is giving me a hard time.

Seriously. I started writing, and all of a sudden this new plot sprang up. Actually, it's probably a co-plot. Which is fine- I knew I needed one, and I wasn't sure what it was going to be. And it's right, because the book was feeling too "forming a fellowship and going on a journey" for me, and now I have a plot that ISN'T that, and that's good. It balances out the other characters' journey, and means I don't have to manufacture events on the journey. But all of a sudden I'm meeting characters I didn't know existed, and I know nothing about them. It's cool, but it's frustrating. Especially since two of them are totally stuck in speechmaking mode right now, as they're major politicians. I also feel like I should go find Giuliani's post 9/11 speeches, or Adama's post-Cylon attack speech, just to see what I'm missing in terms of these speeches.

That probably makes NO sense unless you live in my head.

On the bright sides, I'm on track with NaNoWriMo- up to 13,693 words, so I should be able to hit 15,000 tonight, and we went out to dinner last night for my birthday. VERY good dinner- I had duck confit egg rolls, beef stroganoff, and pecan tart. Yum. I renewed my LJ account- my birthday present to myself every year- and bought a few songs off iTunes. Lots of people have wished me happy birthday (thank you all! :) ). I'm making my birthday dinner soon; cheesemonger's mac n cheese (it has chedder, gruyere, and BRIE), ham steaks, strawberry spinach salad, and chocolate truffle cakes.

Birthday gifts get harder and harder every year. I mean, the things I really want are abstract and not possible to get (finish and publish my novel, my best friend to go into remission, my brother to call, another good friend to have her baby, the bonkers idea of someone from BSG actually reading and commenting on Youth's Final Luxury, my kids to take a nap, be 30 pounds lighter and rid of my C-section gut...) or really expensive (a laptop). The things I do want, I frequently buy during the year (books, DVD, etc.) And my main hobby is writing, which requires zero paraphernalia. But, on the other hand, I also care less and less about gifts. I mean, sure, they're nice. But what I really wanted (and actually could get) was a nice dinner out, and I got that. I'm happy. Anything else is icing on the cake. My sis and I actually agreed to stop exchanging gifts this year for b-days and Christmas- we're just doing the kids- and all either of us felt was relief, y'know? She called and I just spent an hour talking to her. That was better than pretty much anything else.

Anyway. Suppose I should go make my birthday dinner. (I'm so snitching some chocolate, which isn't helping that 30 lbs lighter one. Hopefully it WILL help the PMS!) Happy unbirthday to everyone on my flist, since I've sucked at wishing birthdays this year! (Mea culpa!!!!!)

Comments

[inksheddings.livejournal.com]

Aw, Happy Birthday. I'm sorry you're not in the best of spirits, but I have my own issues with my upcoming birthday, so at least I can commiserate a little bit.

I hated it when they wouldn't nap! That always made me grumpy too. Little kids are supposed to nap so that their mommies can charge their batteries. I'm glad you're not on your own to handle the both of them.

And since it's your birthday, eat as much chocolate as you desire. It's calorie free on birthdays! Didn't you know? :P

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Birthdays really do loose their sparkle after a bit, don't they??

And chocolate is good on birthdays. I made chocolate truffle cakes. I'm not quite sure how adding eggs and butter and a tablespoon of flour actually intensifies the chocolate, but it does :)

[trovia.livejournal.com]

Well, Happy Birthday anyway. You know, I think 34 is a great age. I'm not quite there yet myself but I like dating people in that age group. It's an excellent age. So, I'd say stop caring about that whole young/old thing. It's beside the point. Because, uhm. Because I say so. :)

Incidentally, I know about having fictional speeches stuck in your head. I'm not sure what that says about either of us.

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Thanks! You know, it occurs to me now that you said it that my husband was 34 when I married him :)

And it says we're brilliant writers :) (Btw- I saw Lilacs was recced on crack_van! Go you!)

[trovia.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I'm so proud of that! :)

Glad to see that your mood seems to have improved. :) We definitely are excellent writers, you're right.

[werewolf-lib.livejournal.com]

A happy birthday to you! Have a little more chocolate -- it's actually quite good for you and you certainly deserve a complete treat!

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Thanks! It's even dark chocolate. Mixed with eggs and butter and a little sugar and flour, but dark chocolate just the same. And oh darn, I have two leftover cakes and my husband is away for the next two nights. Isn't that terrible? :)

[werewolf-lib.livejournal.com]

All that cake to keep from going stale and you're all by yourself -- poor thing! It'll be tough, I know.
;)

[secretsolitaire.livejournal.com]

Aw, I hope the day after your birthday will be better then! *hugs*

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Thanks! The day before was pretty good- I think I'll just consider that one the birthday day.

[misscake]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Yes, I find that the older I get, the less I enjoy my birthday in general.

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much! ::Eats your icon::

[aome.livejournal.com]

Sorry about all the stress and frustrations. I'm glad you did have a nice dinner out, and hope your at-home birthday dinner turned out just as tasty. Happy birthday!

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much! It did come out tasty, so there was at least that. (Toby capped the day off with an "I hate Mommy." ARGH.)

[aome.livejournal.com]

And we wonder why we eagerly awaited their ability to fully express themselves. :P

Anyway - I thought I'd check to see if you still want me tomorrow. The worst of my cold has passed but I've still got the sniffle-nose thing and a mild cough. I'm really REALLY good with hand-washing and not-sneezing on people but if you'd rather not take the chance, then let me know when you'd like to reschedule (again).

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

I think we should be fine! See you tomorrow! :)

[rinelk.livejournal.com]

Happy birthday! I'm largely with you on gifts; especially now that my library usage has gone way up and we have Netflix, the idea of buying books or DVDs seems odd unless I think I'll love it. I have a solution: video games.

Don't think you're going to take me up on it, though. :-)

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

Yeah, not much of a video gaming person. Howard seems to like to give me cookbooks, though. Wonder why... ;)

[ramie-k.livejournal.com]

Happy birthday!! And I hope your frustrations go away when the PMS does! (I just went through this last week, so I feel ya!)

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

Yeah, PMS totally sucks. And it's been worse ever since I had Trevor. They totally need an antidote for hormones.

[minnow-53.livejournal.com]

Happy Birthday! :)

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Thanks! :)

[topaz-eyes.livejournal.com]

Happy (if belated) Birthday, dear! (((Hugs))). I hear you about gifts. I think as we get wiser (not older!) we appreciate the intangibles more than anything material.

(Hope the kids settled down eventually...)

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much!

Yeah, they never did, but they seem to be right now. ::knocks wood very, very softly::

[daybreak777.livejournal.com]

I am sorry that I missed your birthday! And that it wasn't so happy! I do post cheer posts from time to time, so maybe that can be cheery on days when it's hard to be a mom.

I also wanted to encourage your Hoshi and Dee fic. I can't read the spoiler because I'm a spoiler-virgin like that, but I support all things Hoshi and Dee! And your writing!

And Happy Very, Very Belated Happy (Un?)Birthday and good luck with Nano!