If I have a singular skill, it’s that I am incapable of backing out of my driveway when I am: tired/stressed/ill/excited.

Time #1: Was mad at my mom, backed into her van—or rather, according to her, “floored it and landed on” her van. I think I was 17.

Time #2: Backed into the Chop’s car last year during the move. I had my car full of stuff and honestly did not see his car and didn’t even think about it possibly being there. I broke a light and crunched in his hood the tiniest bit.

Time #3: This morning I backed the right side of the car into the garage as I was pulling out. I ripped the glass out of my side view mirror (the casing is pretty busted too, but still hanging on!) and ripped some weather stripping and wood off the garage. I’m really busy and stressed and frankly exhausted lately, so yeah.

I think I need the kind of car that beeps or yells when it senses something behind me. But it’s gotta be really loud, and really, really sensitive… because even as I was hearing my mirror crunch, I didn’t stop backing up. Nice, right? I finished pulling out, putting a nice scrape on my bumper (the Liberty’s have a plastic-type bumper, so really I just buff it and it goes away, but still).

Then I cursed a blue streak. Not a great start to the day, lol.

We’re supposed to get something like 10 inches of snow and I swear to god, they are acting like it’s the “big one” that will keep us in our homes for days. They have closed schools, canceled mail (WTF THE MAIL?! what happened to “neither rain nor snow nor sleet nor dark of night”??) and people are already driving like grannies—even though maybe 1/2 inch is on the ground.

I have rage about this because half of my clients are rushing to push out emails, some canceling events, some that they are just afraid we won’t get to tomorrow because of the weather… hello, I work from home? I guarantee you the Internet will survive 10 inches of snow. Sigh.

The Chop is still recovering from yesterday’s Vikings loss, we had torrential rain today and not one, but TWO windows are leaking, the Chop left the (poo) shoe out on the porch, so that’s ruined and I just finished working at midnight.

Some days are really rough.

The Chop had to go to the DMV today to get a new license… it did not go well. He took a credit card bill, his ID and his passport, but he ended up coming home (after waiting 1.5 hours) because he needed either a) a utility bill, b) a lease agreement or c) a bank account statement that was mailed to the house.

Three problems: all the bills are in my name (always have been), we bought the house (so no lease agreement) and we get our bank statements online (we’re green! mostly! somewhat! we try.).

We found the quitclaim deed I had to get to be able to pick up our recycling bins (seriously, who the fuck is going to come steal recycling bins that aren’t from their area? THEY DON’T LOOK THE SAME) and he went to the bank to have them print out a statement (we printed one here too, but you never know).

Ironically the printed statement from the bank? No good. And the deed? The person who helped him had to go ask the manager if that was OK.

Seriously. Can the DMV be any more of a complete fuck up? It’s like the ugly stepchild of government agencies, that went to prison for murder, got out on a technicality and is now torturing the rest of us because it hates life.

One of our resolutions was to drink less at home. The plan of attack was to just not have anything here, so we wouldn’t have to have a lot of willpower… just concentrate on the work that would be required to get in the car and drive to the store, and that would convince us to not bother. As it turns out, the need for a stiff drink quickly overpowers our laziness—well, the Chop’s really. It’s too damn cold for me to go outside unless I absolutely have to.

Last night I worked till around two on a new site from a client. She had hired some self-proclaimed “experts” and they blew her site to hell. It was loads of fun.

Today has been no better. Eleven emails to build and send, three separate conference calls, one server that went down and a complete lack of alcohol. There are two bottles of wine from the wedding, half a bottle of peach schnapps and an almost full bottle of Kahlua—and sadly, I have no interest in a wine-schnapps cooler and really, WTF would you do with Kahlua?

So as it turns out, I’ve figured out a really good way to not drink. Only have crappy stuff in the house and hold firm to not letting your husband go buy vodka for you and voila! Problem solved.

We went and saw Sherlock Holmes today. I really, really wanted to love it. I love Robert Downey, Jr., I adore Rachel McAdams (especially as a brunette) and Jude Law was perfectly cast. But for some reason a) I had a rough time paying attention to it—ie, my mind would wander and that’s never a good sign and b) the close ups of the punching and ribs breaking made me gag.

Chop says I just don’t like Guy Ritchie-directed movies, and that may be true, but overall I feel like the plot was missing something… and in my opinion, it’s a good beginning. Batman Begins was an awesome movie, and one of the reasons it caught my attention was it showed how it all began. Now why couldn’t they do that with Sherlock Holmes?

It was like being dropped into a room full of people who knew each other, had their little inside jokes and quirks and history, and we weren’t really privy to them. Bleh.

Does anyone else have issues doing laundry? I feel like our laundry pile NEVER goes down and I’m constantly triaging eight or more loads at a time. OK, I need this tomorrow… Chop needs these for work… where the hell are my jeans… etc.

And honestly, doing laundry drives me crazy. I’m pretty sure it’s the waiting while things are washing and drying—nine times out of ten I forget about it and remember two days later.

That drives my mom completely nuts. :)

I’m not the biggest fan of the dentist—mainly because when I was a kid I lived in fear of any situation where I would have to get a shot—but my mom was quite insistent her kids went to the dentist every six months like clockwork. The shot fear kept me from ever getting a cavity.

Until I got old, and apparently slacked off.

1) I blame the fact that I haven’t gone to the dentist in a year. We moved and I had to cancel my appointment and then the wedding, etc., so I might’ve slightly let it lapse.

2) I blame the Chop, who hasn’t gone to the dentist in YEARS. I think a little of his laissez faire attitude has rubbed off on me.

3) I blame my non-fear of needles. After 2006, they just aren’t that scary anymore, lol.

Today I had to have two cavities filled, one on top and one on bottom—both, fortunately, on the same side. Amazingly the novacaine shot wasn’t that bad… a prick, a little uncomfortable, but overall easy pie.

The irritating numbness, however, drove me completely batshit for five hours.

It’s cold today. It’s going to be cold tomorrow. Then it’ll be colder and colder until I’m very, very sad. And cold.

We now have a garage, which is awesome and has prevented me from falling on ice and my car windows from freezing shut.

However, I call BS on it (and garages in general) not being heated. It still takes just as long for my car to heat up and I can still see my breath as I make the (admittedly minuscule, but shut it!) trek from the door.

According to lots of cooking/baking websites, one can store pancake batter in the fridge for up to three days.

According to our personal test, one’s pancake batter grows mold in two days. A lot of mold. Such a disgusting amount of mold that it looks like poppy seed pancake batter.

We have around 10 inches of snow—it’s been falling since Friday—and sadly the Chop thinks we need to shovel. I LOATHE shoveling. If there’s one thing I miss about renting an apartment, it’s having someone else handle the outside… leaves, mulching, snow removal. They all suck.