I am in a super bad mood tonight, and I don't know why.

Maybe it's my birthday coming up and I am resigned to it sucking as usual (honestly, I don't care about holidays any longer, and they annoy/depress me more than they give me any sort of joy).

My mom asks, "What do you want for your birthday?" And I tell her I don't know. Because I don't.

Really, there's only two things I'd like: a Kindle or comparable e-book reader, or that spiffy swiveling touch-screen laptop I mentioned a bit back. Beyond that, not really wanting anything. Both are significantly out of the price range of my family to give as gifts, so I won't bother asking.

I used to ask for RPGs, books, and video games, but I have plenty of them. More RPGs than I'll ever actually play, anyways.

Really, the stuff I'm looking for right now is to increase my productivity or enjoyment of various media (especially being untethered from a workstation), which is what the two things I actually want would do.

Or maybe its the fact that the house is a sty right now. We really need to get the laundry finished, and Jen keeps saying she's going to help with it, but shit keeps coming up and getting in the way, or it gets forgotten/ignored, so it keeps piling up. It's really just getting to me.

And the basement is still a mess from the flooding and needs a really good mopping, plus I FUCKING HATE dealing with the cat box. Ugh.

I'm stuck at the house all the time. I'm still in too bad of shape to go back to work. Did a stress exam the other day, and my life stress is extremely high, which can't be helping. I didn't even realize until I looked at it on paper.

I have a billion things to do which are just too exhausting, so they don't get done, and I end up beating myself up about them later. Which I mostly try not to do, but some of them are things I can't put off but am.

Might explain why I'm sleeping 10 hours a night and still not feeling rested.

Blah, blah, blah. Anyways, just *grumble*.

Yay! I've staved off the infection I could feel starting in my ear/jaw, but the antibiotics made me nauseous, nearly threw up a couple times. Only a couple pills left, thankfully.

Jen's finally fully back on her feet, too, so we cleaned and steamed the dining area, parlor, front hall, and back porch, and the carpet looks almost like new again (white carpet, gets pretty rough looking if you don't steam it every couple months).

Spooky wasn't sure what to make of the back porch or her kennel with it completely cleaned out. When I took the kennel out into the yard to wash it down and let it dry, she laid down in the spot it usually sits and looked completely lost. It was cute.

Handling the kitchen, stairs, and upstairs hallway today, with Princess and Blondie cleaning their bedroom (AGAIN! Third time in a week): they have cat food all over the floor. Oy.

Tuesday: 4 hours
Monday: 6.5 hours
Sunday: 8 hours
Saturday: 4.5 hours

That's how much time I spent lifting, hauling, carrying, scrubbing, and similar adjectives to get the old house finished and every last thing moved out before the landlord's inspection so we can get our deposit back (or at least not have to pay them any clean-up fees). I THOUGHT we'd be done Sunday.

Thankfully, my mom came down on Sunday and my dad came down on Monday to help out, but my back had been hurting for a almost a week before that from all the other carrying. I swear, you think, "Gee, there's not much left" and then you actually start moving everything and it ends up being more than you imagined it was.

Yesterday, once I was done, my back hurt so much I couldn't feel it hurting at the end of the day: numb from pain. But it hurts just dandy today. Now, I'm going to lie down and watch a movie before I have to run all over town tomorrow doing stuff -- like figuring out how the local post office screwed up our mail this time (because we're not receiving any mail at either address).

Six years ago, Jen and I moved into the house we still occupy. Two days ago, we finally unpacked the last of the stuff we had boxed up when we moved. That means we cleaned out our garage. A car now fits in there! Who knew?

We actually found some fairly cool stuff, like the old (still working) Super Nintendo we thought we had tossed or sold some years ago. My son is all excited about this find and can't wait to play the games we found along with it. Also, a huge box of Nintendo Power magazines.

I found my Social Security Card. Huh. Thought I'd lost that. Wife found hers, too. Thought we'd lost both of them.

I also found an autographed copy of "Running with the Demon". Mint condition! Six years in a box in the garage and there's nothing wrong with it! This is a cool find because it is autographed. I also have two other copies of the book, because I keep thinking I've lost it.

She found her drumstick. This prompted an argument. She claims this was from when she was in Band in high school, and played drums. I blinked. When we were dating, she told me that she recieved that drumstick from some drummer in some famous band. She denies ever having said any such thing...but this is the first time I've ever heard she was in Band in high school, let alone a drummer.

We also found some pictures I took at the Ren Faire. She claims SHE took the pictures. Like hell! I remember taking the pictures. Well, at least we found the pictures.

Oh yeah, we also found an undeveloped roll of film! We both wonder what's on it! We'll probably argue about who took the pictures, whatever it is.

I found a box full of old D&D character sheets from my grade-and-high-school gaming days, plus the first Fantasy Heartbreaker I ever wrote. 16 Ability Scores! Percentile Skills! An overly complex magic system based on old english superstitions and magical correspondences! (more authentic, you see) Other things I chuckled at but can't recall now!

She found her favorite watch. The band was broken so she was going to toss it. Women. The band was fixed in five miutes and the watch needs a new battery.

I found my old contacts, still in their little case. One of them was all dried up and crumbly, which was ok because it had ripped anyways, and my eyes have changed since then. But the other one was still wet...yes, WET, not just moist, and in perfect condition. I said I was going to buy an eyepatch just so I could wear my contact.

I won't tell you about all the stuff we tossed, though some of that was pretty cool, too, for the memories they brought back.

Most of you are probably still stuck on the "Six years? You didn't unpack for six years?" part. Yeah.